producers of oil, natural gas, and salt.
The state’s main industries include
chemical manufacturing and oil refining.
Paper goods, fabricated metals,
transportation equipment, and processed
foodstuffs such as sugar are other
chief industrial products.
Sugarcane (for sugar) is the state’s main
agricultural crop. Other major farm
products include cotton and cattle. The
fishing industry in Louisiana provides
180 Louisiana BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
shrimps, oysters, and other seafood.
Service-based industries, such as tourism,
commercial sales, government,
health care, and finance, play vital roles
in the state’s economy. One of the main
tourist destinations is the city of New
Orleans. In 2005 the city was badly
damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane
Katrina, but it soon began to
rebuild.
History
There were several Native American
tribes in the region when Europeans
began settling in the Louisiana area. The
Caddo were the largest group, but the
Tunica, the Choctaw, and others also
lived in the area.
The Spanish were the earliest Europeans
to explore the area. But the French were
the first to settle it, beginning in about
1702. In 1803 the United States bought
the region from the French as part of the
Louisiana Purchase. Louisiana became a
U.S. state in 1812.
In the 1800s there were many large
Louisiana farms called plantations. Plantations
depended on slave labor. Louisiana
therefore joined other slave-owning
states in the Confederacy during the
American CivilWar (1861–65). Louisiana
rejoined the Union in 1868.
Through most of the 1900s, the state
had to deal with issues of discrimination
against African Americans.
Louisiana faced another great challenge
in 2005. In that year Hurricane Katrina
broke down the barriers that protected
the city of New Orleans from flooding.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost
their homes in the disaster. Many had to
leave the state.
..More to explore
Baton Rouge • Caddo • Louisiana
Purchase
Oak trees line an avenue leading to one of Louisiana’s old plantation homes.
Facts About
LOUISIANA
Flag
Population
(2000 census)
4,468,976—
rank, 22nd state;
(2008 estimate)
4,410,796—
rank, 25th state
Capital
Baton Rouge
Area
51,840 sq mi
(134,264 sq
km)—rank, 31st
state
Statehood
April 30, 1812
Motto
Union, Justice,
and Confidence
State bird
Brown pelican
State flower
Magnolia
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Louisiana 181
Louisiana
Purchase
In 1803 the area of the United States
was much smaller than it is today. In
that year, however, the country bought
the Louisiana Territory from France.
The territory stretched from the Mississippi
River to the Rocky Mountains,
and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada.
The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size
of the United States.
Historical Background
A French explorer named Sieur de La
Salle had claimed Louisiana for France
in 1682. He named the territory after
the French king Louis XIV. It originally
included land on both sides of the Mississippi
River.
In 1762 France gave the part of
Louisiana west of the Mississippi to
Spain. The rest they gave to Great
Britain. It became part of the United
States after the American Revolution. In
the late 1700s settlers from the eastern
part of the United States started moving
into the area. Spain allowed them to
use the Mississippi River and the port
city of New Orleans, near the river’s
mouth.
In 1801 the powerful French leader
Napoleon got the territory back. This
worried the U.S. settlers. They were
afraid that France might try to interfere
with traffic on the river.
The Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson first tried to
buy just New Orleans. Napoleon
ignored him until Jefferson threatened
to join forces with Great Britain,
France’s worst enemy. Napoleon also
needed money to pay for the many wars
he was fighting. For these reasons, he
offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory.
The price was about 15 million
182 Louisiana Purchase BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
dollars. This amounted to only 3 cents
per acre.
The Louisiana Purchase added 828,000
square miles (2,144,520 square kilometers)
to the United States. The country
eventually carved 13 states, either in
whole or in part, from the territory.
These states were Arkansas, Colorado,
Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and
Wyoming.
..More to explore
Jefferson, Thomas • Napoleon
Luanda
Population
(2005
estimate), urban
area,
2,766,000
Luanda is the capital of Angola, a country
in southwestern Africa. The city lies
on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is
by far Angola’s largest city.
Luanda is a busy seaport. Ships load up
there with coffee, oil, and other products
for sale to other countries. The city
also has some factories, including a factory
for processing oil.
The Portuguese founded Luanda in
1576. In 1627 it became the capital of
Portugal’s colony of Angola. From the
start Luanda was a base for slave traders.
Newly captured slaves were sent from
Luanda’s port across the ocean to Brazil.
The slave trade ended in the middle of
the 1800s.
In 1975 Angola became an independent
country with Luanda as its capital. Different
Angolan groups immediately
