About Louisiana

Louisiana is the state known for being physically shaped like the letter L that starts its name. Located just beside Texas on the southern border of the country, it is also surrounded by Arkansas and Mississippi. The southern border of the state is coastline running along the Gulf of Mexico.

The southern part of the state is quite wet with the beaches along the coastline and mile after mile of swampland with many different rivers passing through to empty into the Gulf of Mexico. The culture of locals living in these regions of the state is well known for controversial practices such as hunting alligator. Yet, that is not the culture in all of the northern cities where the terrain is hillier with a lot of open prairies and heavily wooded areas.

In 2008, the lower lying parts of this state were severely flooded by a powerful hurricane nicknamed Ike. Ike knocked down levees that were not strong enough to hold back the vicious waters of the Gulf. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and this part of the state has now become a tourist attraction to some extent as many have wanted to see firsthand how the area slowly restores itself.

While the capital of this state is Baton Rouge, the most well known city is New Orleans. Thousands of visitors come each year for the wild Mardi Gras Celebration where body parts are flashed in exchange for colorful strings of beads.

Cities in Louisiana