Portal:Louisiana

The Louisiana Portal

Louisiana (French: Louisiane [lwizjan] ^ⓘ; Spanish: Luisiana [lwiˈsjana]; Louisiana Creole: Lwizyàn) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs). Baton Rouge is the state's capital, and New Orleans, a French Louisiana region, is its largest city with a population of about 383,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River.

Much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. These contain a rich southern biota, including birds such as ibises and egrets, many species of tree frogs—such as the state-recognized American green tree frog—and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. More elevated areas, particularly in the north, contain a wide variety of ecosystems such as tallgrass prairie, longleaf pine forest and wet savannas; these support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants. Over half the state is forested.

Louisiana is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi river system and the Gulf of Mexico. Its location and biodiversity attracted various indigenous groups thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the 17th century. Louisiana has eighteen Native American tribes—the most of any southern state—of which four are federally recognized and ten are state-recognized. The French claimed the territory in 1682, and it became the political, commercial, and population center of the larger colony of New France. From 1762 to 1801 Louisiana was under Spanish rule, briefly returning to French rule before being sold by Napoleon to the U.S. in 1803. It was admitted to the Union in 1812 as the 18th state. Following statehood, Louisiana saw an influx of settlers from the eastern U.S. as well as immigrants from the West Indies, Germany, and Ireland. It experienced an agricultural boom, particularly in cotton and sugarcane, which were cultivated primarily by slaves from Africa. As a slave state, Louisiana was one of the original seven members of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Loup with the New York Mets in 2021

Aaron Christopher Loup (born December 19, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Angels.

Born in Raceland, Louisiana, Loup played baseball at Hahnville High School and Tulane University, where he led his teams to several state playoff appearances and recorded a five-hit shutout. He was drafted by the Blue Jays out of Tulane in the ninth round of the 2009 draft. (Full article...)

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Top to bottom, L-R: Downtown Lake Charles, L'Auberge du Lac Casino, McNeese State University, John McNeese statue, Israel LaFleur Bridge, Lake Charles City Court, Henderson Bayou

Lake Charles is the fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is a major industrial, cultural, and educational center in the southwest region of the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lake Charles's population was 84,872.

The city and metropolitan area of Lake Charles is considered a regionally significant center of petrochemical refining, gambling, tourism, and education, being home to McNeese State University and Sowela Technical Community College. Because of the lakes and waterways throughout the city, metropolitan Lake Charles is often called the "Lake Area". (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Louisiana-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A field of yellow wildflowers in St. Bernard Parish (from Louisiana)
Image 2Map showing the geographic extent of the Baytown, Coastal Troyville and Troyville cultures (from History of Louisiana)
Image 3Typical dishes of Louisiana Creole cuisine (from Louisiana)
Image 4El Museo de los Isleños (Isleño Museum) in Saint Bernard (from Louisiana)
Image 5A streetcar on the St. Charles Avenue Line in New Orleans (from Louisiana)
Image 6Aerial view of Louisiana State University's flagship campus (from Louisiana)
Image 7View of flooded New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (from Louisiana)

Map of parishes in Louisiana by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census

Legend

Non-Hispanic White

40–50%

50–60%

60–70%

70–80%

80–90%

90%+

Black or African American

40–50%

50–60%

60–70%

70–80%

(from Louisiana)

Image 9Capture of New Orleans, April 1862, colored lithograph of engraving (from Louisiana)
Image 10Louisiana's flag during the American Civil War, in 1861 (from History of Louisiana)
Image 11Bogue Chitto State Park (from Louisiana)
Image 12Free woman of color with mixed-race daughter; late 18th-century collage painting, New Orleans (from Louisiana)
Image 13Treemap of the popular vote by parish, 2016 presidential election (from Louisiana)
Image 14Map of the Caddoan Mississippian culture and some important sites (from History of Louisiana)
Image 15'Signing the Ordinance of Secession of Louisiana, January 26, 1861', oil on canvas painting, 1861 (from Louisiana)
Image 16Watson Brake, the oldest mound complex in North America (from History of Louisiana)
Image 17Troyville Earthworks, once the second tallest earthworks in North America (from Louisiana)
Image 18Aerial view of Louisiana's wetland habitats (from Louisiana)
Image 19Honey Island Swamp (from Louisiana)
Image 20The Louisiana Governor's Mansion (from Louisiana)
Image 21Geographic map of Louisiana (from Louisiana)
Image 22Map of New France (blue color) in 1750, before the French and Indian War (from Louisiana)
Image 23National Rice Festival, Crowley, Louisiana, 1938 (from Louisiana)
Image 24Mardi Gras celebrations in the Spanish Town section of Baton Rouge (from Louisiana)
Image 25Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near New Orleans (from Louisiana)
Image 26Map of the Fourche Maline and Marksville cultures (from History of Louisiana)
Image 27Poverty Point UNESCO site (from Louisiana)
Image 28A young African American man in Morganza, 1938 (from Louisiana)
Image 29Antioch Baptist Church in Shreveport (from Louisiana)
Image 30Louisiana pinesnake (from Louisiana)
Image 31Saint-Domingue Creoles (from Louisiana)
Image 32Louisiana Alligator (from Culture of Louisiana)
Image 33Cargo ship at the Port of New Orleans (from Louisiana)
Image 34A map showing the geographical extent of the Plaquemine cultural period and some of its major sites. (from History of Louisiana)
Image 35French Acadians, who came to be known as Cajuns, settled in southern Louisiana, especially along the banks of its major bayous. (from Louisiana)
Image 36Louisiana Purchase, 1803 (from Louisiana)
Image 37Map of Louisiana in 1800 (from Louisiana)
Image 38A map showing the extent of the Coles Creek cultural period and some important sites (from History of Louisiana)
Image 39Watson Brake, the oldest mound complex in North America (from Louisiana)
Image 40French pirate Jean Lafitte, who operated in New Orleans, was born in Port-au-Prince around 1782. (from Louisiana)
Image 41Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in New Orleans (from Louisiana)
Image 42Tabasco varieties produced in Louisiana (from Louisiana)
Image 43Louisiana entrance sign off Interstate 20 in Madison Parish east of Tallulah (from Louisiana)
Image 44The Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, the tallest state capitol building in the United States (from Louisiana)
Image 45Caesars Superdome and Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. (from Louisiana)
Image 46Louisiana's population density (from Louisiana)
Image 47Population density and low elevation coastal zones in the Mississippi River Delta. The Mississippi River Delta is especially vulnerable to sea level rise. (from Louisiana)
Image 48Modern map of the United States overlapped with territory bought in the Louisiana Purchase (in white) (from History of Louisiana)
Image 49Consolidated Bond of the State of Louisiana, issued 6. July 1892 (from Louisiana)
Image 50Entrance to the Bald Eagle Nest Trail at South Toledo Bend State Park (from Louisiana)
Image 51Map of New France (blue color) in 1750, before the French and Indian War (from History of Louisiana)
Image 52Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, founder of the colony of Louisiana in New France. (from History of Louisiana)

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... that slave trader Jourdan Saunders greatly profited from a Louisiana law banning slave trading?
... that Robin Roberts, later of ESPN and Good Morning America, worked as a reporter for the radio station at Southeastern Louisiana University while a student there?
... that officials said this year's Louisiana wildfire season includes the largest wildfire in the state's history?
... that Confederate troops under Colonel George Wythe Baylor disabled two Union tinclad gunboats on the Red River in Louisiana on May 5, 1864?
... that the 2023 election for sheriff in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, was rerun after an initial margin of one vote?
... that when students spoke Vietnamese in a graduation speech in Louisiana, the school district proposed banning all non-English languages?

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