Louisiana is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 30.6418° N, 91.5659° W.

What is the largest city in Louisiana?

New Orleans is the largest city mapped in Louisiana, with a metropolitan population of about 785,000.

How many cities are in Louisiana?

YearMaps maps 11 cities and towns in Louisiana, with a combined metropolitan population of about 2.46 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.

Louisiana Map — Cities & Geography, United States

Interactive Map of Louisiana

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About Louisiana

Louisiana (French: Louisiane; Spanish: Luisiana [lwiˈsjana]; Louisiana Creole: Lwizyàn) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is bordered by Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs). Baton Rouge is the state's capital, and New Orleans, a French Louisiana region, is its most populous city with a population of about 363,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River; and the mouth of the Mississippi or delta defines much of its lower topography.

Much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. These contain a rich southern biota, including birds such as ibises and egrets, many species of tree frogs—such as the state-recognized American green tree frog—and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. More elevated areas, particularly in the north, contain a wide variety of ecosystems such as tallgrass prairie, longleaf pine forest and wet savannas; these support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants. Over half the state is forested.

Louisiana is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi River System and the Gulf of Mexico. Its location and biodiversity attracted various indigenous groups thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the 17th century.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Louisiana (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Louisiana in Depth

History

The area of Louisiana is the place of origin of the Mound Builders culture during the Middle Archaic period, in the 4th millennium BC. The sites of Caney and Frenchman's Bend have been securely dated to 5600–5000 BP (about 3700–3100 BC), demonstrating that seasonal hunter-gatherers from around this time organized to build complex earthwork constructions in what is now northern Louisiana. The Watson Brake site near present-day Monroe has an eleven-mound complex; it was built about 5400 BP (3500 BC). These discoveries overturned previous assumptions in archaeology that such complex mounds were built only by cultures of more settled peoples who were dependent on maize cultivation. The Hedgepeth Site in Lincoln Parish is more recent, dated to 5200–4500 BP (3300–2600 BC).

Geography

Louisiana is bordered to the west by Texas; to the north by Arkansas; to the east by Mississippi; and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico. The state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands of the north (the region of North Louisiana), and the alluvial along the coast (the Central Louisiana, Acadiana, Florida Parishes, and Greater New Orleans regions). The alluvial region includes low swamp lands, coastal marshlands and beaches, and barrier islands that cover about 12,350 square miles (32,000 km2).

Economy

Louisiana's population, agricultural products, abundance of oil and natural gas, and southern Louisiana's medical and technology corridors have contributed to its growing and diversifying economy. In 2014, Louisiana was ranked as one of the most small business friendly states. In 2025, 99.5% of businesses in Louisiana were small businesses and employed 54.1% of the state's work force.

Louisiana's principal agricultural products include seafood (it is the biggest producer of crawfish in the world, supplying approximately 90%), cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice.

Demographics

The majority of the state's population lives in southern Louisiana, spread throughout Greater New Orleans, the Florida Parishes, and Acadiana, while Central and North Louisiana have been stagnating and losing population. From the 2020 U.S. census, Louisiana had an apportioned population of 4,661,468. Its resident population was 4,657,757 as of 2020. In 2010, the state of Louisiana had a population of 4,533,372, up from 76,556 in 1810.

Despite historically positive trends of population growth leading up to the 2020 census, Louisiana began to experience population decline and stagnation since 2021, with Southwest Louisiana's Calcasieu and Cameron parishes losing more than 5% of their populations individually.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Louisiana (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Louisiana: Key Facts

Key facts about Louisiana
Population	4,657,757 (2020)
Area	135,382 km²
Capital	Baton Rouge
Head of government	Jeff Landry
Highest point	Driskill Mountain
Established	30 April 1812

Facts from Wikidata Q1588 (CC0).

History of Louisiana: Empires and States

The atlas records 4 polities whose mapped territory included part of Louisiana, from Kingdom of France in 1721 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.

Polities that held Louisiana, in chronological order
Polity	Period here
Kingdom of France	1721–1768 CE
New France	1721–1779 CE
The Spanish Empire	1769–1799 CE
United States of America	1803–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Louisiana

Louisiana on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Visiting Louisiana

Louisiana (French: La Louisiane) is a state in the South of the United States that is known for its culture that dominates in the New Orleans part of the state. The state of Louisiana is bordered to the west by Texas, to the north by Arkansas, to the east by the state of Mississippi, and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Louisiana (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Largest Cities in Louisiana

11 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Louisiana
#	Name	Population	Region	Role
1	New Orleans	785,000	Louisiana	Populated place
2	Baton Rouge	422,072	Louisiana	Admin-1 capital
3	Metairie	394,206	Louisiana	Populated place
4	Shreveport	248,053	Louisiana	Populated place
5	Lafayette	158,214	Louisiana	Populated place
6	Monroe	101,724	Louisiana	Populated place
7	Slidell	84,239	Louisiana	Populated place
8	Lake Charles	83,821	Louisiana	Populated place
9	Alexandria	76,565	Louisiana	Populated place
10	Houma	64,592	Louisiana	Populated place
11	New Iberia	37,540	Louisiana	Populated place

Ports in Louisiana

15 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Ports in Louisiana
#	Name	Channel Depth	Class	Sea	Max Vessel
1	Madisonville	56.7 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	medium vessels
2	Grand Isle	56.7 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	medium vessels
3	Slidell	56.7 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	medium vessels
4	Morgan City	49.4 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	large vessels
5	Destrehan	38.4 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	large vessels
6	Reserve	38.4 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	large vessels
7	Gretna	38.4 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	medium vessels
8	St Rose	38.4 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	large vessels
9	Haymark Terminal	38.4 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	medium vessels
10	Port Sulphur	34.7 m	Very Small	Gulf of Mexico	large vessels

The other 5 (channel depth, class, sea, max vessel)

Lake Charles · 34.7 m · Small · Gulf of Mexico · large vessels
Loop Terminal · 5.5 m · Major · Gulf of Mexico · large vessels
Convent · Small · Gulf of Mexico · medium vessels
St. James · Small · Gulf of Mexico · medium vessels
Southwest Pass · Small · Gulf of Mexico · medium vessels

Louisiana: Quick Answers

Where is Louisiana?: Louisiana is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 30.6418° N, 91.5659° W.
What is the largest city in Louisiana?: New Orleans is the largest city mapped in Louisiana, with a metropolitan population of about 785,000.
How many cities are in Louisiana?: YearMaps maps 11 cities and towns in Louisiana, with a combined metropolitan population of about 2.46 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.