About New Orleans

Founded in 1718 by a French explorer, New Orleans became a French colony in 1731. The new town, nestled in a great sweeping curve of the Mississippi River, was secretly ceded to Spain in 1762, and then returned to France in 1802. France then sold the territory to the United States a year later. The city still retains evidence of the French and Spanish influence in many ways. For example, the Louisiana legal system is unique within the United States; its law is based on the Napoleonic Code instead of the British legal system.

New Orleans is bound on the north by Lake Pontchartrain and depends upon a complex system of levees and pumps to prevent the city from sinking into the Mississippi Delta. As Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf Coast region in 2005, the city's federal flood protection system failed, resulting in the worst civil engineering disaster in American history in which 80% of the city flooded. Rebuilding and recovery efforts continue.

While New Orleans has been a popular tourist destination for many years, economic diversification has been a long-term goal for the city's government. Due to recent aggressive marketing techniques, many manufacturing, high-technology and port-related industries have been attracted to the New Orleans area. As a result, the port of New Orleans has gained economic strength and importance and is now the nation's largest port facility for the export of corn, soybeans and wheat. Through ongoing efforts, the New Orleans area has acquired a number of industrial and commercial operations concentrating on ship building, food processing, petroleum refining and primary metals production.

The jewel of the city is the French Quarter, or Vieux Carre, originally laid out by the French. The Vieux Carre Commission, founded in 1937 to save this historic section of the city, is one of the first such commissions in the United States and is used as a national model. The Quarter is known for its architecture, which was influenced by the French and Spanish, as well as its jazz, fine shops and art galleries, famous restaurants and the French market.

New Orleans is perhaps best known the Mardi Gras festival held each year which culminates on 'Fat Tuesday' prior to Ash Wednesday. Parades and general revelry are enjoyed by residents and tourists alike. New Orleans' numerous cultural attractions include the New Orleans Symphony and Opera, as well as its ubiquitous jazz music, and some live theater. An active art scene includes the Louisiana Children's Museum and the newly renovated New Orleans Museum of Art which has doubled in size, housing some of finest glass and African collections in the United States.