LALouisiana
Pelican State · Capital: Baton Rouge · South (Deep South)
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Capital
Baton Rouge
Largest city
New Orleans
Population
1–5 million
Area rank
#31 of 50
Admitted
1812
Time zone
Central Time
Region
South
Letters
9
Bordering states: Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi.
4 fun facts about Louisiana
- Louisiana is the only US state where the legal system is based on French civil law, not English common law.
- The state has parishes instead of counties — a legacy of French Catholic administration.
- Jazz was born in New Orleans around 1900. So was Mardi Gras as we know it.
- It's losing land to the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of about one football field every 100 minutes (subsidence + sea level rise).
Learn more
→ How to learn the 50 states (full guide)