Population:

25th largest U.S. State by population, with 4,410,796 people (2008 estimate).
31st largest state in the country by area, at 51,885 square miles.

Largest city: New Orleans

Median income:$43,733 (2008 estimate)

Climate:
Yearly rainfall: 59.7 inches per year
Yearly snowfall: 1-3 inches per year in the northernmost part of the state.
Temperatures (High/Low) in capital city of Baton Rouge:
January, 60/40; July, 91/73

Foreclosures:
Foreclosure activity for 2009 increased in Louisiana over the prior year. There was a total of 11,750 properties with filings. That works out to a rate of one filing for every 158 households, which compares to the United States average of 45, and is a little more than one half of one percent of the state’s housing units.

Those figures represent a 64 percent increase over 2008 and a 196 percent increase over 2007.

In 2008 there were about 59,100 existing homes (including condos, co-ops, and single-family homes but excluding new homes) sold in Louisiana, compared to about 75,900 sold in 2007.

Economy:
Louisiana's soil composition makes it ideally suited for growing sugar, rice and sweet potatoes, all of which are major agriculture industries. Fishing, particularly for shrimp, oysters and crawfish, is another big industry. Louisiana is by far the leading petroleum producing state in the country, with an output of a million barrels of crude per day. Coupled with a thriving natural gas industry, the energy sector is big business for the state. Tourism is a more than $5 billion industry as well.

Noteworthy:
Louisiana politicians have long had a reputation for “bringing home the bacon.” For every tax dollar the state sends to Washington, D.C., it receives $1.78 in return.