The State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge, and the largest city is New Orleans based on March 2007 data which suggest New Orleans population increased by 32,000 people since the Census Bureau's count in July 2006 to bring the population to 255,000. The population within the city limits of Baton Rouge itself was 224,000 pre-Katrina and according to the Census Bureau the population increased by only 8,000 in the year following Katrina to bring it to about 232,000. Other data suggest that even with its many post-Katrina problems, the repopulation of New Orleans is occurring in great numbers. The largest parish by population is Jefferson Parish and largest by area is Terrebonne Parish (Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties). The New Orleans metropolitan area is Louisiana's largest.

Louisiana has a unique multicultural and multilingual heritage. Originally part of New France, Louisiana is home to many speakers of Cajun French and Louisiana Creole French. African American and Franco-African, and French / French Canadian form the two largest groups of ancestry in Louisiana's population.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia listing for "Louisiana".