Louisiana - state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans.

Nicknames: 1. Child of the Mississippi 2. Pelican State (official) 3. Sportsman's Paradise 4. Sugar State

Motto: Union, Justice and Confidence

Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643–1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane, meaning "Land of Louis".

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

Louisiana has a humid subtropical climate, perhaps the most "classic" example of a humid subtropical climate of all the Southcentral states, with long, hot, humid summers and short, mild winters.

Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes (the equivalent of counties in most other states). The term "parish" is unique to Louisiana and is due to its French heritage;

Alexandria

Baton Rouge

New Orlean

Protected AreasLouisiana contains a number of areas which are, in varying degrees, protected from human intervention. In addition to National Park Service sites and areas and a United States National Forest, Louisiana operates a system of state parks and recreation areas throughout the state. Administered by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers System provides a degree of protection for 48 rivers, streams and bayous in the state.

Kisatchie National Forest is Louisiana's only national forest. It includes several hundred thousand acres in central and north Louisiana.

Now Louisiana has an estimated population of 4,533,372.

Louisiana's population has the second largest proportion of black Americans (32.1% according to 2010 census) in the United States, behind neighboring Mississippi (36.3%)

The current Louisiana governor is Bobby Jindal, the first Indian American to be elected governor. Louisiana has seven congressional districts and is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by six Republicans and one Democrat. Louisiana has nine votes in the Electoral College.

Louisiana is home to many, especially notable are the distinct culture of the Creoles and Cajuns.

Creole culture is a cultural amalgamation that takes a little from each of the French, Spanish, African, and Native American cultures. The Creole culture is part of White Creoles' and Black Creoles' culture. Originally Créoles referred to native-born whites of French-Spanish descent. Later the term also referred to descendants of the white men's relationships with black women, many of whom were educated free people of color.

Louisiana has a unique linguistic culture, owing to its French and Spanish heritage. According to the 2000 census, among persons five years old and older, 90.8% of Louisiana residents speak only English and 4.7% speak French at home. Other minority languages are Spanish; Vietnamese and German. The Louisiana State Government are English and French.

There are several unique dialects of French, Creole, and English spoken in Louisiana. There are three unique dialects of the French language: Cajun French, Colonial French, and Napoleonic French. For the Creole language, there is Louisiana Creole French. There are also two unique dialects of the English language: Cajun English, a French-influenced variety of English, and what is informally known as Yat, which resembles the New York City dialect.

Brown Pelican

Strawberry

Magnolia