Louisiana Info
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Capital
City: Baton Rouge
Economy: Oil and petrochemicals, agriculture, timber,
fishing and tourism.
Population: 4,468,976
Time Zone: 6 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (-6
GMT). Daylight Saving Time is observed from the first Sunday in April to
the last Sunday in October.
Louisiana's Flag:
The design consists of the pelican group from the state seal, in white and
gold, and a white ribbon bearing the state motto, "Union, Justice,
and Confidence", on a field of a solid blue. A Brief History of Louisiana
Under 10 Flags.
History of Louisiana:
Louisiana has a rich, colorful historical background. Early Spanish explorers
were Alvárez Piñeda, 1519; Álvar Núñez
Cabeza de Vaca, 1528; and Hernando De Soto in 1541. Sieur de la Salle reached
the mouth of the Mississippi and claimed all the land drained by it and
its tributaries for Louis XIV of France in 1682. Louisiana became a French
crown colony in 1731, was ceded to Spain in 1763, returned to France in
1800, and sold by Napoleon to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase
(with large territories to the north and northwest) in 1803. In 1815, Gen.
Andrew Jackson's troops defeated a larger British army in the Battle of
New Orleans, neither side aware that the treaty ending the War of 1812 had
been signed. Louisiana is a leader in natural gas, salt, petroleum, and
sulfur production. Much of the oil and sulfur comes from offshore deposits.
The state also produces large crops of sweet potatoes, rice, sugar cane,
pecans, soybeans, corn, and cotton. Leading manufactures include chemicals,
processed food, petroleum and coal products, paper, lumber and wood products,
transportation equipment, and apparel. Louisiana marshes supply most of
the nation's muskrat fur as well as that of opossum, raccoon, mink, and
otter, and large numbers of game birds. Major points of interest include
New Orleans with its French Quarter and Superdome, plantation homes near
Natchitoches and New Iberia, Cajun country in the Mississippi Delta region,
Chalmette National Historical Park, and the state capital at Baton Rouge.
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Other Louisiana Links:
Association of Records Managers and
Administrators
Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Municipal Association
Louisiana Office of
Tourism
Louisiana Travel Promotion Association
State Library of Louisiana |
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