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Louisiana - The Bayou State.

Louisiana

Louisiana was once a part of the French Territory of Louisiana. This vast tract of land covered what is now Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and parts of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Canada, as well as Louisiana. The land was bought from France for $15 million in the 'Louisiana Purchase' of 1804, and the size of the USA almost doubled!

Louisiana was admitted to the Union on the 30th of April 1812, making it the 18th state of the USA.

Louisiana was named La Louisiane (meaning Land of Louis) by the French explorer Robert de La Salle when he claimed the land in the name of France. It was named in honour of the French king at the time, Louis XIV, the Sun King.

The sweet potato was adopted as Louisiana's official state vegetable in 2003. Louisiana produces approximately one sixth of all the sweet potatoes grown in the United States.

Louisiana is one of only two US states (the other being California) with a lowest point below sea level. The state's largest city, New Orleans, has an average elevation of 0.5 metres or 19.5 inches below sea level, with some parts sinking as low as 6 metres or 20 feet.

Louisiana is the only state in the USA which does not have counties. Instead its political divisions are known as parishes.

Approximately 4,602,000 people live in the State of Louisiana, making it the 25th most populous of the 50 US states.

The Oscar winning actress Reece Witherspoon was born in Louisiana. Other actors/actresses from the state include Harry Connick Jr,and Ellen DeGeneres.

Chosen in 1979, state dog of Louisiana is the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog, also known as the Catahoula Cur, the Catahoula Hound, and the Catahoula Leopard Hound. Catahoula is one of the parishes in Louisiana.

Louisiana's official nickname is the Pelican State but it is also known by a few more. Why not play this light-hearted yet interesting quiz and see how many questions you can answer about the Bayou State, the Creole State,the Sugar State, the Holland of America, the Child of the Mississippi, the Fisherman's Paradise and the Sportsman's Paradise!

For a closer look at the pictures, please click on them to enlarge.

1 .

Located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capital city, the Louisiana State Capitol building is the tallest of all the state capitols. How tall is it?

300 feet or 91 metres

350 feet or 107 metres

400 feet or 122 metres

450 feet or 137 metres

Louisiana's State Capitol was built in 1932 and was, until 1969, the tallest building in the state with its 34 storeys.

Baton Rouge was chosen as the state's capital city in 1849. Before then both New Orleans and Donaldsonville had been the seats of government. During the Civil War, when Baton Rouge was captured by Union troops Opelousas became the capital until it too was captured. Shreveport then became the new capital until the war's end in 1865 when Baton Rouge returned to the role

2 .

What is the state bird of Louisiana, shown in the picture above?

The Brown Pelican

The Common Loon

The Wood Duck

The California Gull

The brown pelican adorns both the seal and the flag of Louisiana and it was adopted by the state in 1958. One of Louisiana's nicknames is 'the Pelican State'.

The common loon is Minnesota's state bird and the wood duck is the state waterfowl of Mississippi. Strangely, the California gull is the state bird of Utah rather than California, which has adopted the California quail

3 .

This is the flag of Louisiana which has been modified several times during its history. In 2006 which feature was added?

The nest

The motto, 'Union, Justice, and Confidence'

Three drops of blood on the pelican's chest

The pelican chicks

The flag shows a mother pelican deliberately harming herself in order to feed her young with her blood. It is a symbol of Christian charity.

The current flag is based on an 1861 design which was similar, though with only two colours - blue and white. In 1912 yellow was added to the birds' beaks and to the nest, and then, in 2006, three red drops of blood were placed upon the mother pelican's breast.

If you'd like to see Louisiana's historical flags then click here to take a look

4 .

The largest city in Louisiana is New Orleans which is famous the world over for its annual carnival, the Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is French for what?

Party Time

Fat Tuesday

Good Feast

Merry Day

Mardi Gras marks the beginning of lent when, traditionally, rich and fatty foods would be eaten prior to the period of fasting.

The New Orleans Mardi Gras Carnival goes on for two weeks during which there are parades, decorated floats and colourfully dressed people all having a wonderful time!

5 .

The longest continuous bridge over water in the world is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana. How long is it?

2.9 miles or 4.7 km

5.9 miles or 9.5 km

11.9 miles or 19.2 km

23.9 miles or 38.5 km

The bridge is long enough to stretch from Dover in England to Calais in France (although it is over a body of water no more than 14 feet (4.3 m) deep, rather than the 571 feet deep English Channel)!<BR><BR>
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway was recognised as the longest bridge over water in the world when it opened in 1969. This title was taken from it in 2011 when a longer bridge was built in China. However, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is still recognised as the longest <I>continuous</I> bridge over water in the world because it has no land bridges or tunnels in its length, unlike its Chinese

6 .

What is the official state flower of Louisiana (pictured).

The Camellia

The Magnolia

The Coast Rhododendron

The Mayflower

Magnolias have traditionally been associated with the Southern States. As well as being Louisiana's state flower the magnolia is also that of Mississippi.

The camellia is Alabama's state flower, the coast rhododendron is that of Washington and the mayflower has been adopted by Massachusetts

7 .

What is the state mammal of Louisiana, a cub of which is shown in the picture above?

The American Brown Bear

The Grizzly Bear

The American Black Bear

The Polar Bear

The American black bear was adopted by Louisiana in 1992. It is also the state mammal of Alabama, New Mexico and Vest Virginia. Varieties of the American brown or grizzly bear, are the state mammals of California (an extinct subspecies) and Montana

8 .

All to often hurricanes (like this one viewed from the International Space Station) hit the state of Louisiana causing terrible damage. What was the name of the hurricane that struck in 2005, causing $125 billion of damage?

Katrina

Wilma

Rita

Alicia

Hurricane Katrina struck the Bahamas and the Gulf Coast of the United States and took 1,833 American lives. In terms of financial damage it is the most costly hurricane ever known. The deadliest hurricane ever was San Calixto, also known as the Great Hurricane of 1780, which struck the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Bermuda and Florida taking over 22,000 lives

9 .

Seen here with Bing Crosby in the film The Road to Bali, Dorothy Slaton was born in New Orleans in 1914. By what name was she better known when she became an actress and singer?

Dorothy Lamour

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Gish

Dorothy Lee

Dorothy Slaton's step-father was called Lambour and she modified his name when she adopted it as her stage persona. She went on to appear in 48 films between 1936 and 1987. She also appeared in 11 TV series and 2 Broadway Musicals.

The other three Dorothies were also actresses of the same era, though two of them (Dandridge, and Gish) wree from Ohio and the third (Lee) from California

10 .

What is Louisiana's state crustacean (pictured)?

The Fiddler Crab

The Lobster

The Hermit Crab

The Crayfish

The crayfish, also known as the crawfish, the crawdad, the mudbug or the freshwater lobster, was adopted by Louisiana in 1983. Louisiana produces 19 of every 20 crayfish harvested in the USA and, in 1987, 9 out of every 10 crayfish harvested in the entire world!

Author: Graeme Haw