Capital:
Baton Rouge
Governor: Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, R (to Jan. 2004)
Lieut.
Governor: Kathleen Blanco, D (to Jan. 2004)
Senators: John B. Breaux, D (to Jan. 2005); Mary Landrieu, D
(to Jan. 2003)
Secy.
of State: W. Fox McKeithen, R (to Jan. 2004)
Treasurer: John Neely Kennedy, D (to Jan. 2004)
Atty.
General: Richard P. Ieyoub, D (to Jan. 2004)
Organized as territory: March 26, 1804
Entered
Union (rank): April 30, 1812 (18)
Present
constitution adopted: 1974
Motto:
Union, justice, and confidence
State Symbols:
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flower
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magnolia (1900) |
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tree
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bald cypress (1963) |
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bird
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eastern brown pelican (1958) |
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songs
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"Give Me Louisiana" and "You Are My Sunshine"
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Louisiana has
a rich, colorful historical background. Early Spanish explorers
were Alvárez Piñeda, 1519; Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, 1528; and
Hernando De Soto in 1541. Sieur de la Salle reached the mouth of
the Mississippi and claimed all the land drained by it and its
tributaries for Louis XIV of France in 1682.
Louisiana
became a French crown colony in 1731, was ceded to Spain in
1763, returned to France in 1800, and was sold by Napoleon to
the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase (with large
territories to the north and northwest) in 1803.
In 1815,
Gen. Andrew Jackson's troops defeated a larger British army in
the Battle of New Orleans, neither side aware that the treaty
ending the War of 1812 had been signed.
Louisiana
is a leader in natural gas, salt, petroleum, and sulfur
production. Much of the oil and sulfur comes from offshore
deposits. The state also produces large crops of sweet potatoes,
rice, sugar cane, pecans, soybeans, corn, and cotton.
Leading
manufactured items include chemicals, processed food, petroleum
and coal products, paper, lumber and wood products,
transportation equipment, and apparel.
Louisiana
marshes supply most of the nation's muskrat fur as well as that
of opossum, raccoon, mink, and otter, and large numbers of game
birds.
Major
points of interest include New Orleans with its French Quarter
and Superdome, plantation homes near Natchitoches and New
Iberia, Cajun country in the Mississippi Delta region, Chalmette
National Historical Park, and the state capital at Baton Rouge.
Nickname: Pelican State
Origin of name: In honor of
Louis XIV of France
10 largest cities (1999 est.):
New Orleans, 460,913; Baton Rouge, 210,667; Shreveport, 187,393;
Lafayette, 116,806; Lake Charles, 72,173; Kenner, 71,567;
Bossier City, 56,413; Monroe, 52,114; Alexandria, 45,959; New
Iberia, 33,317
Land area:
43,566 sq mi. (112,836 sq km)
Geographic center: In Avoyelles
Parish, 3 mi. SE of Marksville
Number of parishes (counties):
64
Largest parish by population and area:
Orleans, 460,913 (1999 est.); Vernon, 1,328 sq mi.
State forests: 1 (8,000 ac.)
State parks:
30 (13,932 ac.)
Residents: Louisianan,
Louisianian
1999 resident population est.:
4,372,035
1990 resident census population (rank):
4,219,973 (21). Male:
2,031,386; Female:
2,188,587. White: 2,839,138
(67.3%); Black: 1,299,281
(30.8%); American Indian:
18,541 (0.4%); Asian: 41,099
(1.0%); Other race: 21,914
(0.5%); Hispanic: 93,044
(2.2%). 1990 percent population under
18: 29.1; 65 and over:
11.1; median age:
30.9. |
