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Louisiana
Louisiana is a southern state of the United States of America. It uses the U.S. postal abbreviation LA. State nickname: Pelican State Louisiana 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. Capital Baton Rouge Largest City New Orleans Ranked 31st Area Ê- Total 134,382 km² Ê- Land 112,927 km² Ê- Water 21,455 km² Ê- % water 16% Population Ranked 22nd Ê- Total (2000) 4,468,976 Ê- Density 33/km² Admittance into History Union 18th Ê- Order Louisiana was long inhabited by Ê- Date April 30, 1812 Native American tribes before the Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5 arrival of Europeans. The lasting mark of the Native Americans can be Latitude 29¡N to 33¡N seen even today in the names used Longitude 89¡W to 94¡W in Louisiana, such as Atchafalaya, Width 210 km Natchitouches (now spelled Length 610 km Natchitoches), Caddo, Houma, Elevation Ê Tangipahoa, and Avoyel (Avoyelles Ê-Highest 163 meters Parish). Ê-Mean 30 meters What follows is a partial list, Ê-Lowest -2.5 meters using current parish boundaries as rough approximations of locations. ISO 3166-2: US-LA * The Atakapa were found in southwestern Louisiana in the parishes of Vermilion, Cameron, Lafayette, Acadia, Jefferson Davis, and Calcasieu. * The Chitimachas occupied the southeastern parishes of Iberia, Assumption, St Mary, Lower St. Martin, Terrebone, LaFourche, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines. * The Bayougoula, part of the Choctaw nation, were found in points directly north of the Chitimachas, in the parishes of St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, East and West Baton Rouge, Livingston, and St. Tammany. * The Houma tribe, was found in East and West Feliciana, and Pointe Coupee parishes; Ironically about 100 miles north of current location of the town named after them. * Portions of Avoyelles and Concordia parishes along the Mississippi River were home to the Avoyel, part of the Natchez nation. * The northeastern parishes of Tensas, Madison, and East and West Carroll were occupied by the Tunica tribe. * The remainder of current day central and north Louisiana was home to a substantial portion of the Caddo nation. Source: Sturdevent, William C. (1967). Early Indian Tribes, Cultures, and Linguistic Stocks, Smithsonian Institution Map (Eastern United States) The first European explorers to visit what is now Louisiana was a Spanish expedition in 1528 led by Panfilo de Navaez 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 little European settlement north of present-day Saint Louis, Missouri other than fur-trappers and small trading posts. 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 Ildefonse, although this was kept secret for some two years. In 1803 the United States of America purchased the Louisiana territory from the French Republic. The southern portion of the Louisiana Territory was granted statehood within the USA in 1812. There are still remnants of its former status as a possession of France, including: the use of a civil law legal system, 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", French as an official language (the only state that has French as an official language), 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 Lousiana 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 and its governor is Murphy J. "Mike" Foster (Republican). Its two U.S. senators are John B. Breaux and Mary Landrieu, (both Democrats) Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman civil law as opposed to British common law. Technically, it is known as "Code Napoleon" or The Napoleonic Code. It is simply the aforementioned Roman civil law in written form, in order to be applied uniformly, and understood by everyone. The differences between the Napoleonic Code and the laws of the rest of the United States are academic after all of this time. Commercial laws have been updated to reflect laws in other states, as well as federal law. Civil matters retain a bit more of Naploeon's influence, but are nearly in line with most other states. Geography The Mississippi River empties out of the southern portion of the state into the Gulf of Mexico. Economy The total gross state product in 1999 for Louisiana was $129 billion, placing it 24th in the nation. Its Per Capita Personal Income was $23,334, 45th 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 As of 2000, the state's population was 4,468,976. Important Cities and Towns * New Orleans * Lafayette * Ruston * Baton Rouge * Covington * Shreveport * Alexandria * Lake Charles * Slidell Education Colleges and Universities * Centenary College of Louisiana * Northwestern State University of * Dillard University Louisiana * Grambling State University * Our Lady of Holy Cross College * Louisiana College * Our Lady of the Lake College * Louisiana State University * Southeastern Louisiana System University o Louisiana State University * Southern University System at Alexandria o Southern University Baton o Louisiana State University Rouge at Baton Rouge o Southern University New o Louisiana State University Orleans at Eunice * Tulane University o Louisiana State University * University of Louisiana System at Shreveport o University of Louisiana at * Louisiana Tech University Monroe * Loyola University New Orleans o University of Louisiana at * McNeese State University Lafayette * Nicholls State University * University of New Orleans * Xavier University of Louisiana Professional Sports Teams Football * National Football League o New Orleans Saints * Other Football leagues o New Orleans Spice - NWFL o Shreveport Bombers - IPFL o Louisiana Bayou Beast - IPFL o Bossier City Battle Wings - AF2 * Semi-Pro Football Teams o Baton Rouge Riverboat Bandits - SAFL o Lake Charles RiverKats - SAFL o Minden RoughRiders - SAFL o Lafayette Bayou Bulls - SAFL o Ruston Rage - SAFL o Shreveport Steamers - SAFL o Greater New Orleans Gladiators - SAFL o Hammond Headhunters - SAFL o Louisiana (Houma) Blazing Bulldogs - SAFL o Central Louisiana Warriors - SAFL o Slidell Steelsharks - SAFL Baseball * Minor League baseball teams o New Orleans Zephyrs o Shreveport Captains o Alexandria Aces o Baton Rouge River Bats o Houma Hawks o New Orleans Pelicans (1887-1959) o New Orleans Creoles (Negro League) (dates?) Basketball * National Basketball Association: o New Orleans Jazz (1974) team moved to Salt Lake City and became the Utah Jazz in 1979 o The Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002 - Now known as The New Orleans Hornets. Hockey * Minor League Hockey o Louisiana IceGators - ECHL o Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs - CHL Miscellaneous Information * State dog : Catahoula Leopard Dog * State bird : Eastern Brown Pelican * State flower: Magnolia * State tree : Bald Cypress * State mammal : Louisiana Black Bear * State wild flower : Louisiana Iris * State reptile : American Alligator * State insect: Honeybee * State crustacean : Crawfish * State amphibian: Green Tree Frog * State songs: You Are My Sunshine, Every Man a King, and Give Me Louisiana Two separate historically Francophone communities exist in Louisiana. The ancestors of Creoles generally came to Louisiana directly from France or from the French colonies in the Caribbean and settled in New Orleans or in South Eastern Louisiana. The ancestors of the Cajuns are the Acadians, a French-descended people of what are now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada. When the British won the French and Indian War, the British forced all of the citizens to take a pledge of allegiance. Most Acadians declined and emigrated from Canada, most of them fleeing to the South Western portion of Louisiana, centered in the region around Lafayette. There is also a place named Louisiana in the State of Missouri: see Louisiana, Missouri. USS Louisiana was named in honor of this state.
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