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25 Awesome Facts About Louisiana

Sucheta Pradhan
If you love celebrating the good times in your life, perhaps Louisiana is the place for you. Celebrating the minutest of pleasures that bring a smile on your face, Louisiana, the 18th state to join the United States of America, will leave you completely spellbound. Keep going for some interesting tidbits!
1. Located in the Deep South of South Central United States, Louisiana is area-wise the 19th smallest American state, but the 25th most populated.
2. Louisiana shares its borders with Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.
3. Louisiana’s political subdivisions are known as parishes, which are the same as counties in other states of the US. Louisiana comprises 64 parishes in total.
4. Sitting on Mississippi River’s eastern bank, the city of Baton Rouge is Louisiana’s capital. Literally meaning 'red stick', it is the US’ 100th most populous city and Louisiana’s 2nd largest city, after New Orleans.
5. The French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle arrived in Louisiana in 1682. He named the state after King Louis XIV of France. ‘La Louisiane’ in French, literally means ‘Land of Louis’.
6. The United States had offered $10 million to the French in order to purchase New Orleans so as to incorporate it into the US. However, Napoleon countered the offer by demanding $15 million for entire Louisiana. This deal practically doubled the size of the US overnight.
7. Just before the beginning of Lent every year, the city of New Orleans gets decked up to celebrate the famous Mardi Gras. This world-famous carnival event has been taking place since hundreds of years and attracts millions of tourists per annum.
8. In 1862, the Louisiana Native Guards became the first American army to swear in African American officers in their ranks.
9. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Metairie, LA is the world's longest bridge over a water body, and holds a Guinness record for being so. The causeway comprises two parallel bridges, the longer one of which is almost 24 miles in length.
10. American Jazz music was born in New Orleans, LA. It was invented in 1819, when slaves would congregate every Sunday in New Orleans’ Congo Square and mix Caribbean music and church melodies, thus giving rise to the new music form.
11. New Orleans is also known for its historic French Quarter. It is a lively neighborhood with colorful buildings, jazz clubs, Cajun eateries, and cacophonous bars serving potent cocktails.
12. The first ever opera in the US was performed in the French Quarter in New Orleans in 1796.
13. Louisiana is home to the tallest state capitol building in the United States. Located in Baton Rouge, it stands 450 feet tall.
14. Louisiana boasts a huge number of salt mines, thus making the state one of the largest salt producers in America.
15. Louisiana owns the patent for Tabasco Sauce. Filed in 1870, it was one of the earliest patents for the state of Louisiana.
16. The oldest city in Louisiana is Natchitoches. It’s the National Historic Landmark District that boasts French Creole townhouses, a beautiful Minor Basilica, and the city’s oldest general store.
17. Breaux Bridge, LA is known as the ‘Crawfish Capital of the World’, Rayne, LA is the ‘Frog Capital of the World’, Mamou, LA is the ‘Cajun Music Capital of the World’, and Gueydan, LA is the ‘Duck Capital of America’ – Louisiana has plenty of things to flaunt to the world!
18. Driskill Mountain is Louisiana’s highest point located about 535 feet above the sea level. The state’s lowest point is New Orleans, which sits eight feet below the sea level.
19. Because Louisiana has low elevation, most of their dead are not buried but are laid to rest in above-the-ground mausoleums. Interestingly, the actor Nicolas Cage has already bought a pyramid-shaped mausoleum for himself in New Orleans.
20. Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana, owing to which it is nicknamed as the ‘Pelican State’. Endangered from 1970 to 1990, these bird species were reintroduced in the state as a recovery effort. Today, there are an estimated 40,000 brown pelicans in Louisiana.
21. Louisiana is home to the largest number of alligators in the US. It is estimated that the state has about two million alligators in the wild, and about 300,000 more on alligator farms.
22. Louisiana Black Bear is Louisiana’s official animal. However, there are only about 600 of these bears left in the state.
23. Louisiana is home to five national parks and 21 state parks, preserving and protecting rich natural and cultural resources of the state.
24. Two world-famous cocktails, Sazerac and Hurricane, were invented in New Orleans. In fact, Sazerac was made the city’s official cocktail by the Louisiana House of Representatives recently.
25. Despite having so many raucous cocktail bars and people who love to drink and have fun, the official drink of Louisiana is Milk. Unbelievable!