Louisiana is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It 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; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 20th in land area and the 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, 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. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans, with a population of roughly 383,000 people.
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the thirteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
St. Tammany Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 264,570, making it the fourth-most populous parish in Louisiana. The parish seat is Covington. The parish was founded in 1810.
St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 82,540. The parish seat is Opelousas. The parish was established in 1807.
St. Bernard Parish is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area; the parish is located southeast of the city of New Orleans and comprises the Chandeleur Islands and Chandeleur Sound in the east.
DeSoto Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1843. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 26,812. Its parish seat is Mansfield. DeSoto Parish is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area.
Beauregard Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,549. The parish seat is DeRidder. The parish was formed on January 1, 1913.
Avoyelles is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,693. The parish seat is Marksville. The parish was created in 1807, with the name deriving from the French name for the historic Avoyel people, one of the local Indian tribes at the time of European encounter.
Albany is a town in eastern Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1088 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area.
LaPlace is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States, situated along the east bank of the Mississippi River, in the New Orleans metropolitan area. In 2020, it had a population of 28,841.
St. Charles Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, its population was 52,549. The parish seat is Hahnville and the most populous community is Luling.
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major river in the Southern United States. It was named for its reddish water color from passing through red-bed country in its watershed. It is known as the Red River of the South to distinguish it from the Red River of the North, which flows between Minnesota and North Dakota into the Canadian province of Manitoba. Although once a tributary of the Mississippi River, the Red River is now a tributary of the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi that flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico. This confluence is connected to the Mississippi River by the Old River Control Structure.
West Florida was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the western part of former Spanish Florida, along with lands taken from French Louisiana; Pensacola became West Florida's capital. The colony included about two thirds of what is now the Florida Panhandle, as well as parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
The Pearl River is a river in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Louisiana. It forms in Neshoba County, Mississippi from the confluence of Nanih Waiya and Tallahaga creeks, and has a meander length of 444 miles (715 km). The lower part of the river forms part of the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana.
Bayou Teche is a 125-mile-long (201 km) waterway in south central Louisiana in the United States. Bayou Teche was the Mississippi River's main course when it developed a delta about 2,800 to 4,500 years ago. Through a natural process known as deltaic switching, the river's deposits of silt and sediment cause the Mississippi to change its course every thousand years or so.
The Tensas River is a river in Louisiana in the United States. The river, known as Tensas Bayou in its upper reaches, begins in East Carroll Parish in the northeast corner of the state and runs roughly southwest for 177 miles (285 km) more or less in parallel with the Mississippi River. The Tensas River merges with the Ouachita River in Jonesville in Catahoula Parish to become the Black River, not to be confused with Black Lake in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana.
The Tchefuncte River drains into Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana in the United States. It is about 70.0 miles (112.7 km) long.
The Bogue Falaya, also known as the Bogue Falaya River, is a 28-mile-long (45 km) river in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It is a tributary of the Tchefuncte River, which flows to Lake Pontchartrain. The river flows through an area of mixed pine-hardwood and bottomland hardwood forests on the Gulf Coastal Plain.
The Fifth principal meridian, often denoted the "5th Meridian" or "PM 05," is a principal meridian survey line used in the United States for land claims in the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). It was first surveyed in 1815. The meridian, a north-south line, starts from the old mouth of the Arkansas River and runs north. Another survey line related to it is the base line running west from the old mouth of the St. Francis River. These survey lines govern all land surveys in four states and a large portion of the land surveys for two more. Monuments have been erected where the two lines meet at 34°38′44″N91°3′42″W, and the surveyors' skill has been commemorated at the Louisiana Purchase State Park in eastern Arkansas. The Fifth principal meridian is nearly coincident with 91° 3′ 42″ longitude west from the Greenwich meridian.
Lucy is an unincorporated community in St. John the Baptist Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The community is located less than 2 miles northwest of Gypsy and 3 miles east of Edgard.
