Louisiana is a state located the United States. The capital city of Louisiana is Baton Rouge and the largest city in the state is New Orleans. The total population of the state is approximately 4.5 million people. The state has had a truly multicultural history and the area has both been a Spanish and French colony before joining the United States. Interestingly, Louisiana was named after the French King Louis XIV and the Louisiana Territory, at that time, reached all the way to include a small part of modern day Canada.
The history of Louisiana
The state of Louisiana has one the most interesting histories of any of the states in the United States. The first European contact came in 1528 when Spanish explorers located the mouth of the Mississippi river. However, interest in the region didn’t really begin until 1682 when the region was claimed for France. In 1699 the French started their first permanent settlement in the area. The French lost much of the territory to Spain after the Seven Years’ War, but Napoleon reacquired it in 1800.
When did Louisiana became a state?
Napoleon had wanted to construct a large empire in America, but his failure to reconquer Haiti left him disillusioned with this idea. In 1803 he sold the Louisiana (this territory actually included parts of 15 modern day states and 2 Canadian provinces) to the United States. This land was divided into two territories, with the modern state of Louisiana known as the Territory of Orleans. Louisiana became the 18th state of the United States of America on April 30, 1812.