Louisiana (U.S. state)
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This article is about Louisiana (U.S. state). For other uses of the term Louisiana, please see Louisiana (disambiguation).
Louisiana is one of the states constituting the United States of America. It became a state in 1812. In the American Civil War (1861-1865), Louisiana was one of the eleven states that seceded the United States to form the Confederate States of America.
The state is bordered by Arkansas (U.S. state) to the north, Mississippi to the east, and Texas to the west. The Gulf of Mexico lies to the south. The capital is Baton Rouge and its largest city is New Orleans, Louisiana.
The state is named after Louis XIV, who was king of France in the second half of the 17th century when the French colonized the territory. The US acquired the region from from France in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase.