Louisiana, Southern U.S. state in North America
Description
This state stretches from the Gulf of Mexico through wetlands, bayous, and river deltas up to farming plains in the north. The landscape shifts between cypress swamps, wide river branches, and shallow coastal zones where fresh water meets salt water.
History
A French explorer claimed this territory in 1682 for King Louis XIV, before Napoleon sold it to the United States in 1803. A long period of Spanish and French administration followed, still visible today in place names and legal traditions.
Culture
Cajun and Creole communities keep their own cuisine alive, serving gumbo, jambalaya, and fried catfish in small neighborhood restaurants. Accordion-driven zydeco music fills dance halls and local gatherings, while shrimp boats and crawfish traps mark the rhythm of daily life along the waterways.
Practical
The territory divides into 64 parishes instead of counties, with Baton Rouge as the capital and New Orleans as the main economic hub. Drivers should expect toll bridges and occasional flooding on secondary roads during the rainy season.
Did you know?
The Mississippi River forms the eastern border, while extensive wetlands in the south shelter rare species like paddlefish and American green tree frogs. Some communities in the southwest still speak a French dialect that has changed little since the 18th century.
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Louisiana preserves a diverse heritage through its plantations, museums, and natural areas. This collection includes sites where French colonial architecture can be seen along the Cane River, plantation buildings like Melrose and Frogmore that reflect cotton farming and African-American history, and...
Louisiana blends old neighborhoods, plantation houses, and diverse natural landscapes. The French Quarter of New Orleans keeps its 18th-century Spanish colonial architecture, with wrought-iron balconies and lively streets where jazz and the sounds of passersby fill the air. In Baton Rouge, the USS...
Louisiana can be explored far from the usual routes. Next to the bayous and New Orleans, the state hides cemeteries where voodoo priestesses rest, chapels filled with ex-votos, plantations known for their ghosts, and even an abandoned amusement park from Hurricane Katrina. Some places remember the...
Caesars Superdome
218 km
Tulane University
215.6 km
Louisiana State University
102.1 km
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
200.7 km
French Quarter
218.8 km
Six Flags New Orleans
224.5 km
Bourbon Street
218.8 km
Poverty Point
190.5 km
Smoothie King Center
218.1 km
USS Kidd
99.1 km
Oak Alley Plantation
161.5 km
Myrtles Plantation
62.5 km
Jackson Square
219.1 km
Tiger Stadium
101.8 km
Louisiana State Capitol
98.5 km
Atchafalaya Basin Bridge
77.8 km
Bayou Corne sinkhole
137.4 km
Charity Hospital
218 km
St. Louis Cathedral
219 km
Nottoway Plantation
120.8 km
Saint Louis Cemetery
217.9 km
National World War II Museum
219.3 km
Tulane Stadium
215.6 km
Dillard University
216.7 km
Frenchmen Street
217 km
Old River Control Structure
32.1 km
Tougaloo College
233.9 km
Congo Square
218.5 km
Acadia Parish
Allen Parish
Ascension Parish
Assumption Parish
Avoyelles Parish
Beauregard Parish
Bienville Parish
Bossier Parish
Caddo Parish
Calcasieu Parish
Caldwell Parish
Cameron Parish
Catahoula Parish
Claiborne Parish
Concordia Parish
De Soto Parish
East Baton Rouge Parish
East Carroll Parish
East Feliciana Parish
Evangeline Parish
Franklin Parish
Grant Parish
Iberia Parish
Iberville Parish
Jackson Parish
Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Davis Parish
Lafayette Parish
Lafourche Parish
La Salle Parish
Lincoln Parish
Livingston Parish
Madison Parish
Morehouse Parish
Natchitoches Parish
Ouachita Parish
Plaquemines Parish
Pointe Coupee Parish
Rapides Parish
Red River Parish
Richland Parish
Sabine Parish
St. Bernard Parish
St. Charles Parish
Saint Helena Parish
St. James Parish
St. John the Baptist Parish
St. Landry Parish
St. Martin Parish
St. Mary Parish
St. Tammany Parish
Tangipahoa Parish
Tensas Parish
Terrebonne Parish
Union Parish
Vermilion Parish
Vernon Parish
Washington Parish
Webster Parish
West Baton Rouge Parish
West Carroll Parish
West Feliciana Parish
Winn Parish
Orleans Parish
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