66 Facts About Louisiana

1.

Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.

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2.

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.

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3.

In 2018, Louisiana was ranked as the least healthy state in the country, with high levels of drug-related deaths.

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4.

Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other southern state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized, and four that have not received recognition.

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5.

Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715.

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6.

Mississippian period in Louisiana was when the Plaquemine and the Caddoan Mississippian cultures developed, and the peoples adopted extensive maize agriculture, cultivating different strains of the plant by saving seeds, selecting for certain characteristics, etc.

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7.

Examples in Louisiana include the Medora site, the archaeological type site for the culture in West Baton Rouge Parish whose characteristics helped define the culture, the Atchafalaya Basin Mounds in St Mary Parish, the Fitzhugh Mounds in Madison Parish, the Scott Place Mounds in Union Parish, and the Sims site in St Charles Parish.

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8.

Significant Caddoan Mississippian archaeological sites in Louisiana include Belcher Mound Site in Caddo Parish and Gahagan Mounds Site in Red River Parish.

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9.

Many current place names in Louisiana, including Atchafalaya, Natchitouches, Caddo, Houma, Tangipahoa, and Avoyel (as Avoyelles), are transliterations of those used in various Native American languages.

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10.

Thus, Vincennes and Peoria were the limit of Louisiana's reach; the outposts at Ouiatenon, Chicago, Fort Miamis (near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana), and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, operated as dependencies of Canada.

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11.

In 1765, during Spanish rule, several thousand Acadians from the French colony of Acadia made their way to Louisiana after having been expelled from Acadia by the British government after the French and Indian War.

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12.

Previous slaves in Louisiana had been transported from French colonies in the West Indies.

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13.

Truly, it is impossible for lower Louisiana to get along without slaves and with the use of slaves, the colony had been making great strides toward prosperity and wealth.

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14.

At the start of the 19th century, Louisiana was a small producer of sugar with a relatively small number of slaves, compared to Saint-Domingue and the West Indies.

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15.

Claiborne, Louisiana's first United States governor, said African slave labor was needed because white laborers "cannot be had in this unhealthy climate.

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16.

Interestingly, for a slave-state, Louisiana harbored escaped Filipino slaves from the Manila Galleons.

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17.

Anglo-American officials initially made attempts to keep out the additional Creoles of color, but the Louisiana Creoles wanted to increase the Creole population: more than half of the Saint Dominican refugees eventually settled in Louisiana, and the majority remained in New Orleans.

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18.

Napoleon's ambitions in Louisiana involved the creation of a new empire centered on the Caribbean sugar trade.

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19.

On October 18, 1802, however, Juan Ventura Morales, acting intendant of Louisiana, made public the intention of Spain to revoke the right of deposit at New Orleans for all cargo from the United States.

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20.

Louisiana'storians believe the revocation of the right of deposit was prompted by abuses by the Americans, particularly smuggling, and not by French intrigues as was believed at the time.

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21.

Louisiana had authorized the expenditure of $10million for a port city, and instead received treaties committing the government to spend $15million on a land package which would double the size of the country.

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22.

Jefferson's political opponents in the Federalist Party argued the Louisiana purchase was a worthless desert, and that the U S constitution did not provide for the acquisition of new land or negotiating treaties without the consent of the federal legislature.

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23.

Since the Louisiana territory had never officially been turned over to the French, the Spanish took down their flag, and the French raised theirs.

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24.

The Louisiana territory was officially transferred to the United States government, represented by Meriwether Lewis.

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25.

Louisiana Territory, purchased for less than three cents an acre, doubled the size of the United States overnight, without a war or the loss of a single American life, and set a precedent for the purchase of territory.

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26.

At its creation, the state of Louisiana did not include the area north and east of the Mississippi River known as the Florida Parishes.

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27.

From 1824 to 1861, Louisiana moved from a political system based on personality and ethnicity to a distinct two-party system, with Democrats competing first against Whigs, then Know Nothings, and finally only other Democrats.

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28.

Louisiana's secession was announced on January 26, 1861, and it became part of the Confederate States of America.

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29.

Louisiana extended patronage control through every branch of Louisiana's state government.

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30.

Louisiana is bordered to the west by Texas; to the north by Arkansas; to the east by Mississippi; and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico.

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31.

Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' off the coast of Louisiana is the largest recurring hypoxic zone in the United States.

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32.

Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south.

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33.

Louisiana has a humid subtropical climate, with long, hot, humid summers and short, mild winters.

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34.

The humid, thick, jungle-like heat in southern Louisiana is a famous subject of countless stories and movies.

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35.

Louisiana is often affected by tropical cyclones and is very vulnerable to strikes by major hurricanes, particularly the lowlands around and in the New Orleans area.

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36.

Louisiana contains a number of areas which, to varying degrees, prevent people from using them.

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37.

Louisiana contains 308 incorporated municipalities, consisting of four consolidated city-parishes, and 304 cities, towns, and villages.

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38.

Louisiana is the second-most populous of the South Central United States after Texas.

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39.

The majority of the state's growing population lives in southern Louisiana, spread throughout Greater New Orleans, the Florida Parishes, and Acadiana, while Central and North Louisiana have been losing population.

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40.

In 2010, the state of Louisiana had a population of 4, 533, 372, up from 76, 556 in 1810.

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41.

The center of population of Louisiana is located in Pointe Coupee Parish, in the city of New Roads.

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42.

From French and Spanish rule in Louisiana, they were joined by Filipinos and Germans, both slave and free, who settled in enclaves within the Greater New Orleans region and Acadiana.

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43.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, Diocese of Baton Rouge, and Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana are the largest Catholic jurisdictions in the state, located within the Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge, and Lafayette metropolitan statistical areas.

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44.

Louisiana was among the southern states with a significant Jewish population before the 20th century; Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia had influential Jewish populations in some of their major cities from the 18th and 19th centuries.

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45.

The largest Islamic denominations in the major metropolises of Louisiana were Sunni Islam, non-denominational Islam and Quranism, Shia Islam, and the Nation of Islam.

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46.

In 2014, Louisiana was ranked as one of the most small business friendly states, based on a study drawing upon data from more than 12, 000 small business owners.

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47.

Port of South Louisiana, located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, was the largest volume shipping port in the Western Hemisphere and 4th largest in the world, as well as the largest bulk cargo port in the U S in 2004.

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48.

The Port of South Louisiana continued to be the busiest port by tonnage in the U S through 2018.

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49.

Louisiana is a subsidized state, and Louisiana taxpayers receive more federal funding per dollar of federal taxes paid compared to the average state.

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50.

The 1868 constitution, passed during the Reconstruction era before Louisiana was re-admitted to the Union, banned laws requiring the publication of legal proceedings in languages other than English.

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51.

French and Louisiana Creole are still used in modern-day Louisiana, often in family gatherings.

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52.

In 2018, Louisiana became the first U S state to join the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie as an observer.

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53.

Since Louisiana joined the Francophonie, new organizations have launched to help revitalize Louisiana French and Creole, including the Nous Foundation.

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54.

In 2000, of all of the states, Louisiana had the highest percentage of students in private schools.

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55.

Danielle Dreilinger of The Times Picayune wrote in 2014 that "Louisiana parents have a national reputation for favoring private schools.

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56.

Figures derived from the NHTSA show at least 25 persons in Louisiana were killed per year in motor vehicle collisions with non-fixed objects, including debris, dumped litter, animals and their carcasses.

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57.

Louisiana has six congressional districts and is represented in the U S House of Representatives by five Republicans and one Democrat.

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58.

Louisiana had eight votes in the Electoral College for the 2020 election.

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59.

In 1997, Louisiana became the first state to offer the option of a traditional marriage or a covenant marriage.

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60.

From 1898 to 1965, a period when Louisiana had effectively disfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites by provisions of a new constitution, this was essentially a one-party state dominated by white Democrats.

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61.

Louisiana is unique among U S states in using a system for its state and local elections similar to that of modern France.

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62.

However, upon the passage of House Bill 292, Louisiana again adopted a nonpartisan blanket primary for its federal congressional elections.

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63.

Louisiana has six seats in the U S House of Representatives, five of which are currently held by Republicans and one by a Democrat.

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64.

Louisiana has more than 9, 000 soldiers in the Louisiana Army National Guard, including the 225th Engineer Brigade and the 256th Infantry Brigade.

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65.

Louisiana is nominally the least populous state with more than one major professional sports league franchise: the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Pelicans and the National Football League's New Orleans Saints.

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66.

Louisiana has 12 collegiate NCAA Division I programs, a high number given its population.

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