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Located in the southeastern United States, Louisiana lies
entirely within the Gulf Coastal Plain. It is shaped like a
capital L, approximately 530 km (330 mi) at its widest, and
about 450 km (280 mi) from north to south. Louisiana is bordered
by Mississippi on the east, the Gulf of Mexico on the south,
Texas on the west, and Arkansas on the north. Sighted by the
Spanish in 1519, Louisiana was first explored by Panfilo de
NARVAEZ of Spain, who navigated its coast in 1528. Later, Robert
Cavalier, sieur de LA SALLE, named the region Louisiana in honor
of the French king Louis XIV, claiming it for France in 1682.
The state's long and varied history, diverse population,
abundant energy resources, and strategic location at the mouth
of the Mississippi River are valued attributes. The problems
that exist in Louisiana stem from its prolonged recovery after
the Civil War, its relatively slow industrial growth, and its
heavy dependence on extractive industries.
Louisiana became a French crown colony in 1731. Crops, grown on
plantations, included indigo, rice, and tobacco; trade was
primarily by water, and the few roads ran along the levees. To
this day, the arpent system, based on an old French unit of
measure approximating 0.35 ha (0.85 acres), is evident in the
property lines running back from the streams.
In 1762, Louisiana was ceded to Spain as a result of the French
and Indian War, and Great Britain gained control of Florida,
which extended to the east bank of the Mississippi. At the same
time, Acadians, driven from Nova Scotia by the British, began
migrating to Louisiana. The Acadians settled in the eastern
prairies around the present site of Saint Martinville and later
along the Lower Mississippi and Bayou Lafourche.
The State Flower Magnolia.
The earliest known Indian occupancy dates to perhaps 10,000
years ago. These people, probably big-game hunters, left little
evidence of their habitation. A hunting and gathering economy is
thought to have continued until about 2,000years ago, when
farming began. The fertile flood plains were gardened, producing
squash, sunflowers, beans, and maize. The Poverty Point
excavation, nearly 1.6km (1 mi) across, has revealed a highly
organized society dating from about 700BC.
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, with a length of 23.87 miles,
is the world's longest bridge built entirely over water.
In Louisiana, local governmental units, known elsewhere as
counties, are called parishes. Originally they were church units
set up by the Spanish provisional governor of Louisiana in 1669.
Most of the older buildings of the French Quarter are actually
Spanish. Following a devastating fire in 1788, the Spanish
government rebuilt much of New Orleans in their native country's
architectural style.
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