路易斯安那(Louisiana)

美国中南部一州。在地形上区分为密西西比河泛滥平原和三角洲，以及墨西哥湾沿海平原上的低矮丘陵。是美国唯一曾受到拿破仑法典统治的一州。印第安人在此定居可能长达一万六千年；欧洲人来此殖民时，这里居住的是卡多人和乔克托人等印第安民族。1682年法国探险家拉萨尔顺密西西比河而下，声称整个流域属於法国所有。1718年建立纽奥良市，1731年路易斯安那成为法国皇室领地。1760年代随着讲法语的阿卡迪亚人（卡津人）的到来，殖民地有所拓展，这些人来自加拿大新斯科舍。1762～1800年西班牙统治此区，後来又归还法国。1803年美国在路易斯安那购地案中取得路易斯安那，成为美国的一部分。1804年被画为奥尔良准州。1812年加入联邦，成为美国第十八州。1861年南北战争刚爆发时，脱离联邦，1868年重新加入联邦。种植园经济继续存在，农民阶级被压榨得失去农场所有权，结果在1920年代促使了朗（H. Long）这个平民党党员崛起。第二次世界大战後，路易斯安那的经济因近海石油和天然气的开发而快速发展。主要的农产品是大豆和棉花；植树和捕虾业也很重要。石油和天然气是主要的矿产资源。首府为巴顿鲁治。面积123,677平方公里。人口约4,352,000（1997）。

English version：

Louisiana

State (pop., 1997 est.: 4,352,000), southern U.S. It covers 48,523 sq mi (125,674 sq km); its capital is Baton Rouge. It can be divided physically into the Mississippi River flood plain and delta, and the low hills of the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain. It is the only U.S. state to be governed under the Napoleonic Code. Indian occupancy in the area probably spanned 16,000 years; at the time of European settlement the region was inhabited by Caddo and Choctaw Indians. French explorer R.-R. La Salle descended the Mississippi River in 1682 and claimed the entire river basin for France. The city of New Orleans was founded in 1718, and Louisiana became a French crown colony in 1731. Colonization increased in the 1760s with the arrival of French-speaking Acadians (Cajuns) from Nova Scotia. Spain controlled the territory 1762-1800; then it passed back to the French. The lands that constitute modern Louisiana were acquired by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and became the Territory of Orleans in 1804. Louisiana became the 18th U.S. state in 1812. It seceded from the Union in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War and was readmitted in 1868. The plantation economy continued with the farmer class denied ownership, which contributed to the rise of the populist Huey Long in the 1920s. After World War II Louisiana experienced more rapid development with the rise of offshore oil and gas drilling. Major agricultural products are soybeans and cotton; tree farming and shrimp fishing are also important. Petroleum and natural gas are the chief mineral resources.