Wednesday 8 October 2014

Louisiana



Louisiana

Population: 4,533,372 (2010 Census estimate)



The Louisiana state flag shows the state bird, the eastern brown pelican, in white and gold, on a background of blue. The mother pelican is wounding herself to feed her three young. It also states Louisiana’s motto, “Union, Justice and Confidence”

Louisiana consists of many different people, such as the original Indian inhabitants of America, as well as those of French, Spanish, English, German, Acadian*, West Indian, African, Irish and Italian decent. This makes Louisiana a very diverse state, an example of how these different people have influenced today’s Louisiana is that the national dog of Louisiana is the Catahoula Leopard Dog. Which is a mix of a Spanish ‘war dog’ and the domestic dog the Indians of the Catahoula Lake region raised. This shows a mixing of the original inhabitants with the later settlers.

*The Acadian’s were originally a group of French settlers in 17th century Canada. Who then later settled in America, and later became the Cajun people of Louisiana.

Louisiana is well known for its food, such as Jambalaya and gumbo. As well as Cajun music, played with traditional instruments, such as the fiddle, accordion and triangle. With the lyrics of Cajun sings being part French and part English. It is also known for its alligators and swamps.

The prominent occupations were originally farming, trappers and fishermen but today there is a wide range of occupations, with Cajuns being the leaders in the state’s oil and gas industry.

The state’s national tree shows how the geography of the area affects the state. The state tree is the bald cypress, and its shape depends on the amount, and duration of flooding in the state.

Louisiana’s climate is relatively constant, and not as hot as originally thought by looking at images from the state, with the average temperature being 20°C. Snow fall is rare in the south, and it occasionally snows in the north. The average rain fall annually is 64.2 inches and during the summer tropical storms and hurricanes are frequent, leading to severe flooding, especially along the coast. Which in the past has resulted in loss of life and property which can deter people from wishing to visit or move to Louisiana.

There is a large tourist industry in Louisiana, as 27.3 million people visited Louisiana in 2013, and $10.8 billion was spent by domestic and international visitors in 2013. With $807 million state tax revenues generated by travel and tourism in Louisiana. The top two reasons for visiting Louisiana are shopping and fine dining, which emphasises the connection between Louisiana and its food. People also visit for festivals, such as Mardi Gras.


Sources:









No comments:

Post a Comment