Louisiana Summer Day Camps

Louisiana Geography

Louisiana is bordered to the west by Texas; to the north by Arkansas; to the east by the state of Mississippi; and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico. The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands of the north, and the alluvial along the coast. The alluvial region includes low swamp lands, coastal marshlands and beaches, and barrier islands that cover about 20,000 square miles . This area lies principally along the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles and empties into the Gulf of Mexico; the Red River; the Ouachita River and its branches; and other minor streams . The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles , and along the other rivers the alluvial region averages about 10 miles across. The Mississippi River flows along a ridge formed by its own deposits , from which the lands decline toward a river beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile . The alluvial lands along other streams present similar features. The higher and contiguous hill lands of the north and northwestern part of the state have an area of more .