Louisiana (State)

State of Louisiana
State of Louisiana
Coordinates 31°NB, 92°WL
General
Surface 134.382 km²
(16,0% water)
Residents 4.574.836
(40,5 inhabitants/km²)
Capital city Baton Rouge
Politics
Governor John Bel Edwards (D)
Other
Time zone Central Standard Time (UTC−6)
Joined 30 april 1812
Nickname Pelican State
Website louisiana.gov

Louisiana (French: Louisiane) is one of the states of the United States of America. The standard abbreviation for the “Pelican,” as the state’s nickname goes, is La. (not to be confused with the city of Los Angeles which has the same abbreviation). The capital is Baton Rouge.

Geography

Bayou Corne in southern Louisiana

The state of Louisiana covers 134,382 km², of which 112,927 km² is land. It belongs to the Central time zone and to the so-called Deep South.

According to JIBIN123.COM, Louisiana, which is located on the Gulf of Mexico, is bordered to the north by the state of Arkansas and Mississippi, to the west by Texas and to the east by Mississippi.

The main river is the Mississippi, which forms much of the border with the state of the same name and flows into the Gulf of Mexico 150 km beyond New Orleans, via the Mississippi River Delta. The state is rich in larger and smaller lakes, including Lake Pontchartrain, the Toledo Bend Reservoir, Grand Lake, and White Lake. Louisiana also has many islands, such as Marsh Island and the Chandeleur Islands.

The highest point of the fairly flat state is the top of Driskill Mountain (163 m). Much of the coastal area is formed by swamps, the bayous, which were created because the Mississippi, whose course changed over the centuries, used to flow through it.

Administrative division

Unlike other states, Louisiana is not divided into counties, but into parishes. The state has 64 such parishes.

List of parishes in Louisiana

According to COUNTRYAAH, the US state of Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes. Although the name is different, the parishes are similar to the counties in 48 of the other US states. When Louisiana was taken over from France by the United States, the area was divided into areas roughly coinciding with the church parishes then existing in the area. The term survived in the Louisiana Constitution of 1845.

In the south of the state, 22 parishes form a separate region: Acadiana (after ancient Acadia) or Cajun Country. Louisiana has recognized this area as a distinct region because of its distinct culture of French origin.

Parish Inhabitants
1 July, 2007
County Seat Inhabitants
1 July, 2007
Acadia 59.958 Crowley 14.011
Allen 25.524 Oberlin 1915
Ascension 99.056 Donaldsonville 7497
Assumption 22.991 Napoleonville 667
Avoyelles 42.169 Marksville 5668
Beauregard 34.776 DeRidder 10.096
Bienville 14.907 Arcadia 2767
Bossier 108.705 Benton 2853
Caddo 252.609 Shreveport 199.569
Calcasieu 184.512 Lake Charles 70.270
Caldwell 10.307 Columbia 450
Cameron 7414 Cameron 1464
Catahoula 10.452 Harrisonburg 727
Claiborne 16.283 Homer 3427
Concordia 19.058 Vidalia 4142
De Soto 26.269 Mansfield 5412
East Baton Rouge 430.317 Baton Rouge 227.071
East Carroll 8302 Lake Providence 4318
East Feliciana 20.833 Clinton 1891
Evangeline 35.905 Ville Platte 8282
Franklin 20.060 Winnsboro 4873
Grant 19.758 Colfax 1661
Iberia 74.965 New Iberia 32.910
Iberville 32.501 Plaquemine 6728
Jackson 15.139 Jonesboro 3725
Jefferson 423.520 Gretna 15.984
Jefferson Davis 31.177 Jennings 10.546
LaSalle 14.041 Jena 2864
Lafayette 204.843 Lafayette 113.554
Lafourche 92.713 Thibodaux 14.158
Lincoln 42.562 Ruston 21.005
Livingston 116.580 Livingston 1688
Madison 11.858 Tallulah 7707
Morehouse 28.783 Bastrop 11.908
Natchitoches 39.485 Natchitoches 18.177
Orleans 239.124 New Orleans 239.124
Ouachita 149.502 Monroe 51.208
Plaquemines 21.540 Pointe à la Hache
Pointe Coupee 22.392 New Roads 4763
Rapides 130.079 Alexandria 45.857
Red River 9195 Coushatta 2116
Richland 20.469 Rayville 4040
Sabine 23.683 Many 2756
St. Bernard 19.826 Chalmette 9491
St. Charles 52.044 Hahnville 3016
St. Helena 10.620 Greensburg 626
St. James 21.578 Convent
St. John the Baptist 47.684 Edgard 2913
St. Landry 91.362 Opelousas 23.058
St. Martin 51.651 St. Martinville 7019
St. Mary 51.311 Franklin 7760
St. Tammany 226.625 Covington 9493
Tangipahoa 115.398 Amite City 4297
Tensas 5865 St. Joseph 1114
Terrebonne 108.424 Houma 32.618
Union 22.773 Farmerville 3655
Vermilion 55.691 Abbeville 11.667
Vernon 47.380 Leesville 5957
Washington 44.920 Franklinton 3712
Webster 40.924 Minden 13.049
West Baton Rouge 22.625 Port Allen 5058
West Carroll 11.553 Oak Grove 1987
West Feliciana 15.113 St. Francisville 1555
Winn 15.521 Winnfield 5140

Demography and Economics

Louisiana had a population of 4,468,976 (33 per km²), of which about 68% of the population lives in an urban area. The largest cities are New Orleans, the capital Baton Rouge and Shreveport. The state has two official languages: English and French.

In 2001, the state’s gross product was $149 billion. The South Louisiana Harbor stretching 87 km along the Mississippi is one of the largest in the world. Furthermore, the state lives from tourism, agriculture and the oil industry with oil being extracted both in the state and off the coast.

Louisiana holds the dubious honor of having the highest number of inmates per capita of any US state (1341 inmates per 100,000 population in 2012). The US already has the highest number of prisoners per capita in the world. Additionally, Louisiana has the highest murder rate per capita of any US state (10.8 per 100,000).

Politics

Louisiana State House

The executive branch of the state is headed by a governor, who is directly elected by the voters in the state. Louisiana’s current governor is Democrat John Bel Edwards, who was inaugurated in January 2016. He was re-elected in 2019 to a second term in office, which runs until 2024.

The legislature consists of the Louisiana House of Representatives (Louisiana House of Representatives) with 105 members and the Louisiana Senate (Louisiana State Senate) with 39 members.

Compared to many other US states, Louisiana has a different state-level electoral system in which no primaries take place. All interested candidates, regardless of party, will participate in the first round. Only if neither of them obtains a majority, a second round is organized between the two candidates with the most votes. It is therefore possible that a second round consists of two candidates from the same party.

Flag of Louisiana