![]() ![]() ![]() The city was founded in 1718 by the French Mississippi Company, a major trader in furs bought from the Indians up river. The French Quarter was not flooded because the founding French settlers sensibly chose a high site for their city. There is little evidence of flood damage in the areas that we will see as tourists. Although the population fell after Hurricane Katrina the population is now 90% of what is was before the hurricane. The city metropolitan area has a population of 1.1 million, exactly the same as the population of Adelaide. By road the mouth of the Mississippi is over 100 miles away but this is because the river follows a circuitous route to the mouth of its delta. To the north and east of the city is Lake Pontchartrain, a huge body of water in fact the city is bordered by water on three sides. This tropical climate along one of the world’s major water courses meant until recently that the area was plagued with Yellow Fever, malaria and other deadly illnesses. You have to travel upstate in Louisiana to find the cotton growing areas. The city has a tropical climate and the regions north of the city along the banks of the Mississippi were and are major sugar plantation areas, not cotton plantation areas. Because of its strategic location it has always been the prize for invaders during wars. It was to control all navigation and commercial activity on the river and to provide a safe harbour as close as possible to the Gulf of Mexico. It is useful to remember that 50% of New Orleans city is water and not land! Its location on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, near the delta bayous and swamps was the raison d’être for the city. When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 the storm itself did damage to New Orleans but the major devastation came from the levees failing and water flooding at least 80% of the city area. As the city has expanded special levees, pumps and flood gates have been erected around the city. Most of the city is well below sea level, except for the French Quarter which was built on a natural levee of the river in the 1700s. The location and geography of New Orleans is unique in America. Absinthe bar in the French Quarter New Orleans ![]()
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