Located in the southeastern region of the United States, Louisiana was the 18th state to join the union by attaining statehood on April 30, 1812. Today, Louisiana is the 31st most extensive, or biggest, state as well as the 25th most populated state. It shares borders with three states, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The remainder of the state’s border, the southern border, is lined by the Gulf of Mexico. It is known to some by such monikers as the Sugar State, the Bayou State, the Creole State, the Child of the Mississippi, and the Pelican State. Louisiana consists of 64 parishes, the state’s specific version of counties. Its capital city is Baton Rouge. In the next 30 facts written by theFACTfile, we will learn more about Louisiana’s history, people, geography, economy, and more.

1. The first inhabitants of what is now known as Louisiana were Native American tribes such as the Natchez, Bayagoula, and Chitamacha.
2. The first natural gas field was found at a depth of 400 feet in Louisiana in the year 1823.
3. Because of past fertility of its land, Louisiana was once known as one of the richest regions in America due to the indigo, sugar, and cotton industries making the white statesmen rich.
4. Louisiana was a French colony between 1682 and 1763.
5. France relinquished Louisiana and the Isle of Orleans to Spain in November 1762.
6. René-Robert Cavelier names Louisiana in the mid 1600s in honor of King Louis XIV of France who reigned from 1643 to 1715.
7. The food and culture of the state reflects the longevity of early French and Spanish settlers’ influence on the state.
8. The Louisiana State Capitol is the tallest state capital in the U.S. Inaugurated on May 16, 1931, the capital building is 34 stories at a total of 450 feet tall. This tallest of capital buildings was built under the direction of former Governor Huey P. Long, who was assassinated in the building in September of 1935, four years after the building’s inauguration.
9. The nickname “the Pelican State” comes from the numerous pelicans that once inhabited the state’s gulf coast. These pelicans indigenous to Louisiana have since gone extinct, and now, the pelicans found on Louisiana’s gulf coast are actually brown pelicans from Florida.
10. Louisiana is one of the leaders in the country’s leading oil and gas producing states.
11. In August 2005, the Category 3 hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, devastated some parts of Louisiana, particularly the 9th ward of New Orleans. The damage dealt by the storm was underestimated as the possibility of levees breaking was not taken into account. Katrina eroded 73 square miles of Louisiana coastland, and caused the death of an estimated 1,500 Louisiana citizens. It resulted in more than $100 billion in damages. Louisiana hurricane season lasts from June through November each year.
12. During its first centennial in 1912, Louisiana adopted its official flag depicting a pelican mother feeding her own skin to her three chicks with the below inscription saying, “Union Justice Confidence” in front of a deep blue background.
13. The Mississippi River both runs through and borders the state.
14. The state has been governed under 10 different flags since the Spanish conquistador, Hernando de Soto, landed in 1541.
15. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase, buying 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America for $15 million from Napoleon Bonaparte of France. This purchase effectively doubled the size of the United States at the time.
16. The original Louisiana Purchase territory is now split into 13 states.
17. Louisiana boasts no official language. English, French, Spanish, and Vietnamese are among the most common spoken languages in the state.
18. It is one of the wettest states in the United States.
19. Along with being the capital, Baton Rouge is an important inland port due to its location along the Mississippi River.
20. Louisiana leads the U.S. in crawfish and shrimp production.
21. This is a mostly flat state. The highest point, Driskill Mountain, is 535 feet, or 163 meters above sea level. The lowest point in the state is New Orleans at 8 feet, or 2.5 meters below sea level.
22. Louisiana land can be divided into three types of regions: lowlands, hills, and terraces.
23. Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday” is a big festival boasting numerous parades that takes place the day before Ash Wednesday. The Mardi Gras festival has been held in New Orleans since 1838.
24. Louisiana was home to important contributions in the US space exploration program, such as the production of the C-5 boosters used in the Apollo moon landing.
25. This is the only state to have political subdivisions called parishes rather than counties like the other 49 states. Jefferson Parish is the largest population-wise, and Cameron Parish is the largest land area-wise. There are 64 parishes total.
26. LA state license plates have had the following phrases appear on them: “Bayou State”, “World’s Fair”, and “Sportsman’s Paradise.”
27. The capitals of Louisiana have been as follows: New Orleans from 1812-1830, Donaldsville from 1830-1831, New Orleans from 1831-1849, Baton Rouge from 1849-1862, New Orleans from 1862-1882, and finally, Baton Rouge since 1882.
28. The geographic center of Louisiana is located 3 miles southeast of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish. The whole state is 380 miles long and 130 miles wide.
29. Coincidentally, the state’s shape resembles the capital letter “L” or a boot.
30. Louisiana is a major producer of corn and soybeans.

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