Home to more than 4.6 million people, Louisiana sits in the heart of the Deep South along the rich Gulf coastal plain. First explored by the Spanish, then claimed by the French before President Thomas Jefferson bought it for the U.S. as part of the 1803 “Louisiana Purchase,” Louisiana today maintains a distinct French Creole culture not found anywhere else in the Union. In fact, Louisiana is the only state in the union that subdivides into “parishes” rather than counties – a throwback to the rich Roman Catholic influence of the Spanish and French who first settled here.
Louisiana enjoys a mild, subtropical climate fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, featuring lush forestlands to the north and the fertile Mississippi Delta to the south. A major provider of seafood for the U.S., Louisiana produces about 90 percent of the nation’s crawfish. Agriculture and oil are also major economic anchors for the state. The largest population centers lie along the Gulf Coast near the mouth of the Mississippi River – namely, Baton Rouge, its state capital (pop. 220,000) and New Orleans, its largest city (pop. 400,000). New Orleans in particular serves as a major hub for tourism, hosting millions of visitors a year to the French Quarter to experience New Orleans jazz and the noted Mardi Gras celebration. Meanwhile, in the northwest corner of the state near the Texas border, the city of Shreveport has become home in recent years to a thriving film scene.