Louisiana ::: Project ETERNITY

Louisiana is a southern state of the United States of America.

It uses the U.S. postal abbreviation LA. The state is bordered to the west by the state of Texas, to the north by Arkansas, to the east by the state of Mississippi, and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana has no declared "official language", but its law recognizes both English and French.

Name = Louisiana | Fullname = State of Louisiana État de la Louisiane | Flag = Louisiana state flag.png | Seal = Louisianastateseal.jpg | Map = Map_of_USA_highlighting_Louisiana.png | Nickname = Pelican State | Capital = Baton Rouge | OfficialLang = None, English and French are de facto. | LargestCity = New Orleans | Governor = Kathleen Blanco | PostalAbbreviation = LA | AreaRank = 31st | TotalArea = 134,382 | LandArea = 112,927 | WaterArea = 21,455 | PCWater = 16 | PopRank = 22nd | 2000Pop = 4,468,976 | DensityRank = 22nd | 2000Density = 39.61 | AdmittanceOrder = 18th | AdmittanceDate = April 30, 1812 | TimeZone = Central: UTC-6/-5 | Latitude = 29°N to 33°N | Longitude = 89°W to 94°W | Width = 210 | Length = 610 | HighestElev = 163 | MeanElev = 30 | LowestElev = -2.5 | ISOCode = US-LA | Website = www.louisiana.gov }}

History

Louisiana was long inhabited by Native American tribes before the arrival of Europeans. The lasting mark of the Native Americans can be seen even today in the names used in Louisiana, such as Atchafalaya, Natchitouches (now spelled Natchitoches), Caddo, Houma, Tangipahoa, and Avoyel (Avoyelles Parish).

The first European explorers to visit what is now Louisiana was a Spanish expedition in 1528 led by Panfilo de Narváez which located the mouth of the Mississippi River. Some 13 years later Hernando de Soto's expedition crossed through the region. Thereafter the region was long neglected by the Spanish authorities, and the next explorers were French. Louisiana was named by the French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle in honour of Louis XIV in 1682. The first permanent settlement was founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699.

The French colony of Louisiana originally claimed a great region of land on both sides of the Mississippi River and north to Canada. Most of the settlement concentrated along the banks of the Mississippi and its major tributaries, with trading outposts and mission settlements in the Illinois Country, as far north as Peoria, Illinois and a number of settlements in the area around near present-day Saint Louis, Missouri. See also: French colonization of the Americas

Initially Biloxi, Mississippi functioned as the capital city of the colony; from 1722 on New Orleans fulfilled that role.

Most of the territory to the east of the Mississippi was lost to Great Britain in the French and Indian War, except for the area around New Orleans and the parishes around Lake Pontchartrain. The rest of Louisiana became a colony of Spain by the Treaty of Fountainebleau of 1762.

In 1800 France's Napoleon Bonaparte re-acquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso, although this was kept secret for some two years.

In 1803 the United States purchased the French province of Louisiana (see Louisiana Purchase) and divided it into two territories: the Orleans Territory (which became the state of Louisiana in 1812) and the District of Louisiana (which consisted of all the land not included in Orleans Territory). The Florida Parishes were annexed from Spanish West Florida by proclamation of President James Madison in 1810. The western boundary of Louisiana with Spanish Texas remained in dispute until the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, with the Sabine Free State serving as a neutral buffer zone as well as a haven for criminals.

There are still remnants of its former status as a possession of France, including: the use of a civil law legal system, based on the Louisiana Civil Code, which is similar to the Napoleonic Code (like France, and unlike the rest of the United States, which uses a common law legal system derived from England), the term "parishes" being used to describe the state's sub-divisions as opposed to "counties", etc.

In 1849 the capital moved from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Donaldsonville, Opelousas, and Shreveport have also briefly served as the seat of governments of Louisiana.

In the American Civil War Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861. New Orleans was captured by Federal troops on April 25, 1862. As some portion of the population had Union sympathies, unusually the portions of Louisiana under Federal control were recognized as a state within the Union and elected representatives who were sent to the congress in Washington, D.C. through the rest of the war.

Law and Government

The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. Its governor is Kathleen Blanco (Democrat) and its two U.S. senators are Mary Landrieu (Democrat) and David Vitter (Republican). Louisiana has seven U.S. Congressmen, five of which are Republicans, two of which are Democrats.

Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman, Spanish, and French civil law as opposed to English common law. Technically, it is known as "Civil Law," or the "Civilian System." It is often incorrectly referred to as the "Code Napoleon" or The Napoleonic Code. It is important to note that the Louisiana Civil Code and the French Civil Code, often referred to as the Napoleonic Code, came into existence at roughly the same time. Louisiana was never governed by the Napoleonic Code.

Great differences still exist between Louisiana Civil Law and the Common Law found in her 49 sister states. While most of the differences are now found in verbiage, it is important to note that the "Civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in all aspects of Louisiana law. Property, contractual, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking and have little in common with English law.

Louisiana is unique among U.S. states in using a runoff in state, local, and congressional elections. All candidates run in an open primary on Election Day, in which multiple candidates from the same party may be on the ballot. If no candidate has more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the highest vote total compete in a runoff election approximately one month later. This runoff does not take into account party identification. Therefore it is common for a Democrat to be in a runoff with a fellow Democrat or a Republican to be in a runoff with a fellow Republican. All other states use the First Past the Post electoral system to elect Senators, Representatives, and statewide officials.

See: List of Louisiana Governors, Napoleon Bonaparte

Geography

See: List of Louisiana parishes

Topography

The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands, and the alluvial and coast and swamp regions. The alluvial regions, including the low swamps and coast lands, cover an area of about 20,000 square miles; they lie principally along the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles and ultimately emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, the Red River, the Ouachita River and its branches, and other minor streams. The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles, and along the other streams it averages about 10 miles. The Mississippi flows upon a ridge formed by its own deposits, from which the lands incline toward the low swamps beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile. The lands along other streams present very similar features. These alluvial lands are never inundated save when breaks occur in the levees by which they are protected against the floods of the Mississippi and its tributaries. These floods, however, do not occur annually, and they may be said to be exceptional. With the maintenances of strong levees these alluvial lands would enjoy perpetual immunity from inundation. The uplands and contiguous hill lands have an area of more than 25,000 square miles, and they consist of prairie and woodlands. The elevations above sea-level range from 10 feet at the coast and swamp lands to 50 and 60 feet at the prairie and alluvial lands. In the uplands and hills the elevations rise from 60 feet to something under 500 feet in north Louisiana, where the greatest altitudes are to be found.

Besides the navigable rivers already named (some of which are called bayous), there are the Sabine, forming the western boundary, and the Pearl, the eastern boundary, the Calcasieu, the Mermentau, the Vermilion, the Teche, the Atchafalaya, the Boeuf, the Lafourche, the Courtableau, the D'Arbonne, the Macon, the Tensas, the Amite, the Tchefuncta, the Tickfaw, the Matalbany, and a number of other streams of lesser note, constituting a natural system of navigable waterways, aggregating over 4,000 miles in length, which is unequalled in the United States and probably in the world. The state also has 1,060 square miles of land-locked bays, 1,700 square miles of inland lakes, and a river surface of over 500 square miles.

Geology

The underlying strata of the state are of Cretaceous formation, and are covered by alluvial deposits of Tertiary and post-Tertiary origin. A large part of Louisiana is the creation and product of the Mississippi River. It was originally covered by an arm of the sea, and has been built up by the silt carried down the valley by the great river.

Interstate highways

There are proposed plans to extend Interstate 69 to the Texas/Mexico border, which will go through north-eastern Louisiana. Also, Interstate 49 is slated to be expanded north into Arkansas and east along Interstate 10 to New Orleans, replacing part of U.S. Highway 90.

United States highways

North-south routes	East-west routes
U.S. Highway 11 U.S. Highway 425 U.S. Highway 51 U.S. Highway 61 U.S. Highway 65 U.S. Highway 165 U.S. Highway 167 U.S. Highway 71 U.S. Highway 171 U.S. Highway 371 U.S. Highway 79	U.S. Highway 80 U.S. Highway 84 U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Highway 190

Economy

The total gross state product in 1999 for Louisiana was $129 billion, placing it 24^th in the nation. Its Per Capita Personal Income was $23,334, 45^th in the nation. The state's principal agricultural outputs include seafood, cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice. Its industrial outputs include chemical products, petroleum and coal products, food processing, transportation equipment, paper products, and tourism.

Demographics

See also: List of famous people from Louisiana; List of Louisiana musicians; Music of Louisiana

As of 2003, the state's population was 4,496,334, including approximately 200,000 native French-speakers.

The racial makeup of the state is:

The five largest ancestries in the state are: African American (32.5%), French/French Canadian (16.2%), American (10.1%), German (7.1%), Irish (7%).

Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of Louisiana are:

The three largest Protestant denominations in Louisiana are: Baptist (29% of the total state population), Methodist (5%), Pentecostal (2%).

Important cities and towns

Top 10 richest places in Louisiana

Ranked by per capita income

Education

Colleges and universities

Centenary College of Louisiana Dillard University Louisiana College Louisiana State University System Louisiana State University at Alexandria Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, main campus) Louisiana State University at Eunice Louisiana State University at Shreveport University of New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans Our Lady of Holy Cross College Our Lady of the Lake College Southern University System Southern University (Baton Rouge, main campus) Southern University New Orleans

Tulane University University of Louisiana System Grambling State University University of Louisiana at Monroe University of Louisiana at Lafayette Louisiana Tech University McNeese State University Nicholls State University Northwestern State University Southeastern Louisiana University Xavier University of Louisiana

Professional sports teams

Football

Baseball

Basketball

Hockey

Miscellaneous information

Two separate historically Francophone communities exist in Louisiana.

For almost 20 years there was only one amusement park in Louisiana, and it was called Hamel's Amusement Park.

References

See also

External links

Category:U.S. states

Copyrights