Louisiana
Louisiana | |
|---|---|
| State of Louisiana État de Louisiane (French) | |
| Nickname(s): Bayou State • Creole State • Pelican State (official) Sportsman's Paradise • The Boot | |
| Motto(s): Union, Justice, Confidence | |
Anthem:
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 Map of the United States with Louisiana highlighted | |
| Country | United States |
| Before statehood | Territory of Orleans |
| Admitted to the Union | April 30, 1812 (18th) |
| Capital | Baton Rouge |
| Largest city | New Orleans[1][2][3] |
| Largest county or equivalent | Jefferson Parish |
| Largest metro and urban areas | Greater New Orleans |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Jeff Landry (R) |
| • Lieutenant Governor | Billy Nungesser (R) |
| Legislature | State Legislature |
| • Upper house | State Senate |
| • Lower house | House of Representatives |
| Judiciary | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| U.S. senators | Bill Cassidy (R) John Kennedy (R) |
| U.S. House delegation | 4 Republicans 2 Democrats (list) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 52,069.13 sq mi (135,382 km2) |
| • Land | 43,601 sq mi (112,927 km2) |
| • Water | 8,283 sq mi (21,455 km2) 15% |
| • Rank | 31st |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 379 mi (610 km) |
| • Width | 130 mi (231 km) |
| Elevation | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Highest elevation | 535 ft (163 m) |
| Lowest elevation | −8 ft (−2.5 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 4,661,468 |
| • Rank | 25th |
| • Density | 106.9/sq mi (41.3/km2) |
| • Rank | 23th |
| • Median household income | $49,973[6] |
| • Income rank | 48th |
| Demonyms | Louisianian Louisianais (Cajun or Creole heritage) Luisiano (Spanish descendants during rule of New Spain) |
| Language | |
| • Official language | No official language |
| • Spoken language | As of 2010[7]
|
| Time zone | UTC−06:00 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−05:00 (CDT) |
| USPS abbreviation | LA |
| ISO 3166 code | US-LA |
| Traditional abbreviation | La. |
| Latitude | 28° 56′ N to 33° 01′ N |
| Longitude | 88° 49′ W to 94° 03′ W |
| Website | louisiana |
| Louisiana state symbols | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Living insignia | |
| Bird | Brown pelican |
| Dog breed | Catahoula Leopard Dog |
| Fish | White perch |
| Flower | Magnolia |
| Insect | Honeybee |
| Mammal | Black bear |
| Reptile | Alligator |
| Tree | Bald cypress |
| Inanimate insignia | |
| Beverage | Milk |
| Fossil | Petrified palmwood |
| Gemstone | Agate |
| Instrument | Diatonic accordion |
| State route marker | |
 | |
| State quarter | |
 Released in 2002 | |
| Lists of United States state symbols | |
Louisiana (pronounced /lōō-ē'zē-ăn'ə/)[8] is a state in the Southern United States of America. It had a population of 4,657,757 people in 2020. The state has a total area of about 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km2). Louisiana is the 25th largest state by population and the 31st largest state by area. It is bordered by Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Louisiana is also known by its nickname, The Pelican State. The land that would become Louisiana was bought in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Louisiana became a state on April 30, 1812. It was the 18th state to become part of the United States. The people who live in the state are known as Louisianans.[9] The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans.
Louisiana has coastal plains, marshs, and low ridges. All of the state is in the Sun Belt. Louisiana is in a subtropical region, and has a diverse ecosystem. Louisiana has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). It has long, hot, humid summers and short, mild winters.
Louisiana was settled by France and the influence of French culture is still a big part of Louisiana today. The French Quarter in New Orleans is one of the best known attractions in the state. It is known today for its special culture, unique food, as well as the holiday Mardi Gras which is most famous in New Orleans.
Louisiana was very badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Much of the New Orleans area lies below sea level making flooding a serious problem.
Origin of the name Louisiana (Etymology)
[change | change source]Louisiana was named after King Louis XIV, who was the king of France from 1643 to 1715. During his reign, French explorers colonized the area where Louisiana is and named the territory after their king.
History
[change | change source]Louisiana was first settled by Native Americans. Louisiana has a large Louisiana Creole population. Louisiana Creole people are a mixture of African American, French and Native American.
In Baton Rouge, the Robert E. Lee High School was renamed Lee High School in 2016, Lee Magnet High School in 2018, and in 2020, Liberty Magnet High School. Sports teams, formerly called the Rebels, are now called Patriots.[10]
In New Orleans there have been a lot of monuments removed or renamed. The first Confederate monuments removed in 2017 were those of New Orleans, even though it was in 2015 that the City Council ordered their removal. Court challenges were unsuccessful. The workers who moved the monuments were dressed in bullet-proof vests, helmets, and masks to conceal their identities because of concerns about their safety.[11][12] According to Mayor Landrieu, "The original firm we'd hired to remove the monuments backed out after receiving death threats and having one of his cars set ablaze."[13] "Opponents at one point found their way to one of our machines and poured sand in the gas tank. Other protesters flew drones at the contractors to thwart their work."[14] The city said it was weighing where to display the monuments so they could be "placed in their proper historical context from a dark period of American history".[15] On May 19, 2017, the Monumental Task Committee,[16] an organization that maintains monuments and plaques across the city, commented on the removal of the statues: "Mayor Landrieu and the City Council have stripped New Orleans of nationally recognized historic landmarks. With the removal of four of our century-plus aged landmarks, at 299 years old, New Orleans now heads into our Tricentennial more divided and less historic." Landrieu replied on the same day: "These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, and the terror that it actually stood for."[17]
A seven-person Monument Relocation Committee was set up by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to advise on what to do with the removed monuments. The statue of Jefferson Davis, if their recommendation is implemented, will be moved to Beauvoir, his former estate in Biloxi, Mississippi, that is now a presidential library and museum.[18] The Committee recommended that the statues of Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard be placed in Greenwood Cemetery, near City Park Avenue and Interstate 10 (where three other Confederate generals are entombed). However, this conflicts with a policy of former mayor Mitch Landrieu, who had directed that they never again be on public display in Orleans Parish. The Battle of Liberty Place Monument will remain in storage.[19]
- Battle of Liberty Place Monument – Erected 1891 to commemorate the Reconstruction Era Battle of Liberty Place (1874) and celebrate Louisiana's White League. Removed April 24, 2017. The workers were dressed in flak jackets, helmets and scarves to conceal their identities because of concerns about their safety. Police officers watched from a nearby hotel.[20]
- Jefferson Davis Monument – Cost $35,000 and was unveiled February 22, 1911, the 50th anniversary of his inauguration as President of the Confederacy, by the Jefferson Davis Monument Association, which was formed in 1898. "The unveiling...was preceded by 'an impressive military parade' led by Major Allison Owen. Veterans of the Army of Tennessee, Washington Artillery, Camp Henry St. Paul, Army of Northern Virginia, veterans from the Soldiers Home, National Guard and the Boy Scouts all attended. A group of 500 schoolgirls formed a living Confederate flag."[21] Removed May 11, 2017.[22]
- General Beauregard Equestrian Statue – Erected in 1913. Removed May 17, 2017.
- Robert E. Lee monument – Erected in 1884. Statue atop a 60-foot (18 m) column with 12-foot (3.7 m) on an earthen mound. Statue removed May 19, 2017.
- Edward Douglass White Jr. statue – On December 23, the statue of Edward Douglass White Jr. was moved from outside the Louisiana Supreme Court building to the interior near the court museum.[23][24]
- Renaming of public schools. In 1992, the School Board announced plans to rename schools named after owners of slaves, if the parents, teachers, and children of each school approved. Other public schools renamed, not directly relevant to the war, were originally named for Marie Couvent (a black slave owner), George Washington, William C. C. Claiborne, Samuel J. Peters, Étienne de Boré, William O. Rogers ("a general school superintendent who didn't believe blacks should be educated after the 5th grade"), and Edward Douglass White, Jr., a Supreme Court chief justice who voted to uphold the "separate but equal" doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson.[25]
- Jefferson Davis Elementary School renamed in 1993 for Ernest "Dutch" Morial, New Orleans' first African-American mayor.
- P.G.T. Beauregard Junior High School was renamed Thurgood Marshall Middle School, after the first black Supreme Court justice.
- Robert E. Lee Elementary School renamed for Ronald McNair, the black astronaut killed in the 1986 Challenger explosion.
- J. P. Benjamin School, named for Jefferson Davis's secretary of war, was renamed for African-American educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune.
- Charles Gayarre Elementary School, named for Charles Gayarré, a financial supporter of the Confederacy, was renamed after New Orleans civil rights leader Oretha Castle Haley.
- Francis T. Nicholls High School, named for the Confederate general and Governor of Louisiana, was renamed Frederick Douglass High School after the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass.
- Adolph Meyer School, named for a Confederate officer and later a congressman, was renamed for the abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
- Benjamin Palmer School, named for a pro-slavery pastor influential in Louisiana's decision to secede and join the Confederacy, was renamed Lorraine V. Hansberry Elementary School, after the African-American playwright who wrote A Raisin in the Sun.
Cities
[change | change source]Louisiana contains 308 incorporated municipalities, consisting of four consolidated city-parishes, and 304 cities, towns, and villages. Louisiana's municipalities cover only 7.9% of the state's land mass but are home to 45.3% of its population.[26] The majority of urban Louisianans live along the coast or in northern Louisiana. The oldest permanent settlement in the state is Nachitoches.[27] Baton Rouge, the state capital, is the second-largest city in the state. The most populous city is New Orleans. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Louisiana contains nine metropolitan statistical areas. Major areas include Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Shreveport–Bossier City.
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Related pages
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]
- ↑ "New Orleans a 'ghost town' after thousands flee Gustav: mayor", AFP, August 31, 2008, archived from the original on May 16, 2013
- ↑ "Expert: N.O. population at 273,000". WWL-TV. August 7, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
- ↑ "Relocation". Baton rouge. Connecting U.S. Cities. May 3, 2007. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014.
- 1 2 "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- 1 2 Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
- ↑ "Median Household Income in Louisiana". Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ↑ "United States". Modern Language Association. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- ↑ The Tormont Webster's Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary. United States of America: Tormont Publications Inc. 1990. p. 998. ISBN 2921171325.
- ↑ "WordNet Search - 3.0". wordnetweb.princeton.edu. 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
- ↑ Jacobs, David (October 3, 2017). "Will Confederate Landmarks in Baton Rouge Become the Subject of Controversy?". 225 Magazine.
- ↑ Mele, Christopher (April 24, 2017). "New Orleans Begins Removing Confederate Monuments, Under Police Guard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ↑ Robertson, Campbell (May 19, 2017). "From Lofty Perch, New Orleans Monument to Confederacy Comes Down". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ↑ Turque, Bill (July 24, 2017). "Confederate statue moved from Rockville courthouse over the weekend". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ↑ Landrieu, Mitch (March 24, 2018). "What I learned from my fight to remove Confederate monuments". The Guardian.
- ↑ "A monumental challenge: What to do about statues of the heroes of Dixie – and defenders of slavery [unsigned editorial]". Los Angeles Times. May 4, 2017. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- ↑ "Monumental Task Committee". monumentaltask.org. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- ↑ Applebome, Peter (May 24, 2017). "New Orleans Mayor's Message on Race". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ↑ Litten, Kevin (May 12, 2018). "2 Confederate monuments should stay in New Orleans, committee recommends to Mayor Cantrell". The Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018.
- ↑ Litten, Kevin (May 12, 2018). "2 Confederate monuments should stay in New Orleans, committee recommends to Mayor Cantrell". Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018.
- ↑ Mele, Christopher (April 24, 2017). "New Orleans Begins Removing Confederate Monuments, Under Police Guard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ↑ Serrano, Alicia (June 29, 2015). "Who Are the other Confederate Soldiers Honored with Statues on Jefferson Davis Parkway in Mid-City?". Midcity Messenger. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ↑ "Jefferson Davis statue coming down overnight, parents at nearby school told". NOLA.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017.
- ↑ Stole, Bryn (December 23, 2020). "Edward Douglass White statue removed from steps of Louisiana Supreme Court". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- ↑ LaRose, Greg (December 23, 2020). "E.D. White statue moved inside Louisiana Supreme Court building". WDSU.
- ↑ Rainey, Richard (June 29, 2015). "Before Lee Circle, New Orleans schools soul-searched their own ties to slavery". Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ↑ "American FactFinder—Results". archive.vn. February 13, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ↑ "Natchitoches". Louisiana Official Travel and Tourism Information. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ↑ "U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts". City Population. July 1, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ↑ "U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts". City Population. July 1, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
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