In French, “baton rouge” means red stick. In 1699, French visitors called a spot on the Mississippi River baton rouge because of a boundary marker pole stained with animal blood. Now, that spot is the 88.5 square-mile capital of Louisiana. Baton Rouge has also become a major film, medical, industrial, and tech center of the American South. Its median age is 32 (2022).

The “festival capital of Louisiana,” so-called because it hosts more than 75 festivals annually, lies in the state’s southwest on a level plain. Incorporated as a town in 1861, Lake Charles now covers 48.6 square miles. Its streets are primarily laid out in a grid pattern. Its median age is 35.5 (2022), and the city is considered a regionally significant center of petrochemical refining, gambling, tourism, and education.

Located on the banks of the Red River in northwest Louisiana is the city of Shreveport. Founded in 1836, the 123.8 square-mile city today is the commercial, industrial, medical, financial, and government hub of the Ark-La-Tex region, where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. Its median age is 36.1 (2022).

New Orleans, or the “Big Easy,” is renowned for its non-stop nightlife, vibrant live-music scene, and cuisine that reflects its history as a fusion of French, African and American cultures. Situated on the Mississippi River near the Gulf of Mexico, French colonists founded the now 349.8 square-mile city in 1718. Its median age is 37.2 (2022), and its main sectors include tourism, energy, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and international trade.