Louisiana — overview of geography, history, culture, and environment

The name was chosen in honor of King Louis XIV of France. Louisiana was explored early, already the Spaniard Hernando de Soto explored the Mississippi area from 1539 to 1542, the Frenchman Robert Cavelier de La Salle continued these explorations in 1681, whereupon France claimed the area for itself and settled it permanently for the first time in 1699. (see Louisiana Colony)

In the fall of 1729, the Natchez Uprising was a major rebellion by the Natchez Indians, who had allied with African-born slaves against the French colonial masters. In the process, Fort Rosalie was destroyed and nearly all the French living there were killed. The rebellion hit the colonists so hard that the region's economy stagnated for nearly a century and a highly profitable plantation economy, such as had emerged in other parts of the American South in the 18th century, did not emerge in Louisiana until the 19th century.

Ownership changed several times over the years: on the basis of the agreements reached in the Peace of Paris, the western part was ceded to Spain in 1762, the eastern part to Great Britain a year later, which had to cede it to the United States in 1783 (Peace of Paris). Napoleon I reacquired the Spanish share in 1800 (→ Third Treaty of San Ildefonso).

On April 30, 1803, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson purchased the French colony of Louisiana from Napoleon I for $15 million (roughly the equivalent of $347 million today) in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase. The United States thus doubled its territory, as Louisiana at that time still included large areas of the Midwest. Louisiana was given in a formal ceremony on March 10, 1804. The Organic Act of March 26, 1804, effective October 1, created Orleans Territory from the area that lay south of the 33rd parallel, essentially the Louisiana of today. The much larger portion north of the 33rd parallel became the District of Louisiana, which was renamed Louisiana Territory in 1805. On April 30, 1812, Orleans Territory was admitted as the 18th state of the United States under the name Louisiana. To avoid confusion, the Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory in June 1812.

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the state of Louisiana was part of the Southern Union (Confederate States of America). The
capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge, the largest and most famous city is New Orleans.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern part of the state. The city of New Orleans and surrounding regions suffered severe damage.

Louisiana is a COVID-19 pandemic crisis area in the United States. It became the fifth state to be declared a disaster area at the end of March 2020.

Louisiana has a population of 4,533,372 (as of the 2010 Census), of which 60.3% were white, 32.0% African American, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 1.5% Asian American, and 0.7% Native American. The majority of whites have French or Creole ancestry, but only 4.7% still speak French as their native language.

Languages

Louisiana does not have an official language. Because of the strong presence of the French at the time, official documents were issued in both English and French until the American Civil War. The 1845 constitution and an 1847 law ensured bilingualism. The Isleños, who emigrated to Louisiana from the Canary Islands in the 18th century, constitute another linguistic minority. However, the percentage of French speakers in Louisiana has since declined greatly. In 2010, it ranked third behind English (91.26%) and Spanish (about 4%), with about 3% speakers.

Religions

The major religious denominations in 2000 are the Catholic Church (1,382,603), Southern Baptist Convention (768,587), and the United Methodist Church (160,153). There are many other denominations, primarily Protestant. There are unusually large numbers of Catholics compared to the other southern states.

Largest cities

• List of localities in Louisiana