| Abstract from DBPedia | Louisiana (French: Louisiane) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. 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). The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans, with a population of roughly 383,000 people. Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, being so strongly influenced by a mixture of 18th century French, Dominican Creole, Spanish, French Canadian, Acadian, Native American, and West African cultures that they are considered to be exceptional in the U.S. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the present–day U.S. state of Louisiana had been both a French colony and a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported various West African peoples as slaves in the 18th century. Many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture; Filipinos also arrived during colonial Louisiana. In the post–Civil War environment, Anglo Americans increased the pressure for Anglicization, and in 1921, English was for a time made the sole language of instruction in Louisiana schools before a policy of multilingualism was revived in 1974. There has never been an official language in Louisiana, and the state constitution enumerates "the right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their respective historic, linguistic, and cultural origins." Based on national averages, Louisiana frequently ranks low among the U.S. in terms of health, education, development, and high in measures of poverty. In 2018, Louisiana was ranked as the least healthy state in the country, with high levels of drug-related deaths. It also has had the highest homicide rate in the United States since at least the 1990s. Much of the state'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; typical examples include birds such as ibises and egrets. There are also many species of tree frogs such as the state recognized American green tree frog and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a natural process in the landscape and has produced extensive areas of longleaf pine forest and wet savannas. These support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of terrestrial orchids and carnivorous plants. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other southern state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized, and four that have not received recognition.ルイジアナ州（ルイジアナしゅう、英: State of Louisiana）は、アメリカ合衆国南部の州。アメリカ合衆国50州の中で陸地面積では第31位、人口では第25位でもある。州都はバトンルージュ市、最大の都市はニューオーリンズ市である。元フランス領であったが、1812年、アメリカ合衆国の州になった。民法には大陸法の影響が色濃く残っている。また州の下の行政区画として、他州で用いられるカウンティ（county、郡）のかわりにパリッシュ（parish、キリスト教の小教区を意味したが、現在は行政小教区 civil parishで、日本語ではカウンティ相当として「郡」と訳している）が用いられるのも、フランス植民地時代の影響である。パリッシュがカウンティ相当として使われるのはアメリカではルイジアナ州のみである。 州内幾つかの都市圏では多文化、多言語の遺産が残っており、18世紀に領域を支配したフランス（本国およびアカディア）やスペイン（ヌエバ・エスパーニャ）の混合文化に強く影響され、また先住民であるインディアンや、西アフリカから奴隷として連れてこられたアフリカ系アメリカ人の文化の影響も見られる。19世紀初めにアメリカ合衆国の領土となり、アングロサクソン系のアメリカ人が流入して州に昇格する前にアメリカ合衆国の他州とは幾分異なった文化が形成され、今日に繋がっている。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Louisiana) |
