New Orleans

I

Introduction

New Orleans, city, Louisiana, United States. A major port on the Mississippi River, New Orleans is long known for its unique and vivid cultural blend, and is now a major commercial and tourism centre of the South and one of the busiest ports in America. The population of New Orleans was estimated at 454,863 (2005 estimate) in 2004, but following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the city’s population was re-estimated at about 187,000 in 2006.

II

Economy

The city's economy has traditionally been dominated by shipping, including both river barge and ocean vessel traffic. Extensive dock facilities are located along the Mississippi River, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and the Mississippi-Gulf Outlet (a deep channel opened in 1963). Exports from the city's vast hinterland include grains, cotton, and food and oil products. Imports, many of which come from Central and South America, include bananas, cocoa, coffee, and bauxite. The city's industrial base is highly diversified and encompasses more than 800 manufacturing operations. Leading industries include shipbuilding, petroleum refining, food processing, and the manufacture of clothing, construction materials, wood products, primary metals, and petrochemicals. Tourism is also very important to the city's economy.

III

Places of Interest

The precinct of the original settlement is distinguishable today as the Vieux Carré, also known as the French Quarter. The picturesque houses that line the narrow streets of this section are built in a style that combines French and Spanish influences. At the heart of the Vieux Carré is Jackson Square, around which are located St Louis Cathedral (1851) and the Cabildo and Presbytère, former government buildings begun in the late 18th century. Dixieland jazz is still played on Basin and Bourbon streets, where it originated in the early 20th century. To the west of the Vieux Carré is Canal Street, the main thoroughfare of the modern commercial district. The Louisiana Superdome, a large enclosed stadium that is home to the New Orleans Saints American football team, is on the edge of this district. To the west of this lies the Garden District, an area of many attractive 19th-century homes. On the northern side of the city is the extensive City Park, which borders on Lake Pontchartrain.

Among the many institutions of higher learning today are Tulane University of Louisiana, Loyola University in New Orleans (1912), Southern University in New Orleans (1956), Xavier University of Louisiana (1915), and the University of New Orleans (1956). The city's cultural institutions include the New Orleans Museum of Art, a philharmonic orchestra, and an opera association. Jazz festivals and the annual Mardi Gras celebration are major highlights of the city's cultural life.

IV

History

Small villages of the Quinipissa and Tangipahoa peoples were located in the vicinity of present-day New Orleans when the site was first visited by the Frenchman René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, in 1682. The site was visited in 1699 by another French explorer, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville. Recognizing the importance of the location, he established a settlement here in 1718 after he had become governor of the Louisiana Territory. He named it Nouvelle Orléans, after the duc d'Orléans, regent of France. In 1722 the town was made the capital of the French colony. Following the partition of Louisiana between England and Spain in 1767, New Orleans became the capital of Spanish Louisiana. A rebellion (1768-1769) against Spanish rule was quickly suppressed.

In 1800 New Orleans was secretly ceded to France; in 1803 it was formally ceded to France and then, by the terms of the Louisiana Purchase, to the United States. In 1812 Louisiana became a state with New Orleans as its capital. In 1815, at the close of the War of 1812, the city was defended from a British attack by American forces led by General Andrew Jackson in a confrontation known as the Battle of New Orleans.

Between 1810 and 1850 steamboat traffic on the Mississippi River made the city one of the busiest ports in North America; by 1852 it was the third-largest city in the United States.

After the American Civil War, shipping activities declined, but by 1900 they had begun to increase again. The period following World War II was marked by commercial and industrial growth and the completion of major public works programmes. New Orleans was the site of a world's fair in 1984.

In August 2005 New Orleans faced its largest challenge yet after a severe hurricane—Hurricane Katrina—devastated the Gulf Coast of the United States with winds of more than 200 km/hr (125 mph). New Orleans was spared the brunt of the hurricane; however, the storm surge that built up on Lake Pontchartrain breached the city’s extensive system of flood defences. Floodwaters inundated the city, rendering it uninhabitable. A complete evacuation of the city was ordered. The evacuation of survivors quickly turned into a humanitarian crisis. More than a year after the disaster, about 60 per cent of the city’s residents were still unable to return. It was the costliest natural disaster in US history.