• After many years of being under both Spanish and French control, the land that is now Louisiana was sold in 1803 to the United States as a part of the Louisiana Purchase.

• Alligators look basically the same today as they did 100 million years ago. Alligators (like the cockroach, some beetles, some sharks, and others) are so well adapted to where they live that they haven't had to evolve or change much.

Louisiana is an Old South state, with old plantations huge gardens, and amazing swamps. The Mississippi River pours into the Gulf of Mexico in southern Louisiana. The river is so large and powerful that it sloshes over the land, moves sandbars, and makes islands. If you look at a detailed map of Louisiana's coastline, you'll almost wonder whether some of those places are land or water. They are both — and called a “bayou.”

Houma, a town on the south coast, is a great place to take a swamp tour in a boat. Yes, you will see alligators — also cypress trees dressed in moss, egrets, and more.

Louisiana is the twenty-first largest state in population and has almost 4.4 million people. New Orleans, the state's largest city, has about 470,000 people, more than twice the size of Baton Rouge, the capital.