Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the <a href="/facts/List_of_capitals_in_the_United_States/RMAd1LFl">capital city</a> of the <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">U.S. state</a> of <a href="/facts/Louisiana/2GvfFcKE">Louisiana</a>. It had a population of 227,470 at the <a href="/facts/2020_United_States_census/dTEm5TRr">2020 United States census</a>, making it <a href="/facts/List_of_municipalities_in_Louisiana/CPrIhwF8">Louisiana's second-most populous city</a>. It is the <a href="/facts/County_seat/ItAWPoWw">seat</a> of Louisiana's most populous <a href="/facts/List_of_parishes_in_Louisiana/v9nxwFP2">parish</a>, <a href="/facts/East_Baton_Rouge_Parish%2c_Louisiana/j8uyVRbG">East Baton Rouge Parish</a>, and the center of Louisiana's second-largest metropolitan area, <a href="/facts/Baton_Rouge_metropolitan_area/akLtt9tP">Greater Baton Rouge</a>, which had 870,569 residents in 2020.
Located on the eastern bank of the <a href="/facts/Mississippi_River/RduarPzj">Mississippi River</a>, the Baton Rouge area owes its historical importance to its strategic site upon the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural <a href="/facts/Cliff/P7tXINep">bluff</a> upriver from the <a href="/facts/Mississippi_River_Delta/GcnP93vT">Mississippi River Delta</a> at the <a href="/facts/Gulf_of_Mexico/bGE5s57G">Gulf of Mexico</a>. This allowed the development of a business quarter safe from seasonal flooding. In addition, it built a <a href="/facts/Levee/99xdvoVg">levee</a> system stretching from the bluff southward to protect the riverfront and low-lying agricultural areas.
Baton Rouge has developed as a culturally rich center, settled by immigrants from European nations and African peoples brought to North America as slaves or indentured servants. It was ruled by seven different nations: the French, Spanish and British in the colonial era; briefly the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_West_Florida/0FcsBlut">Republic of West Florida</a>; the United States as a territory and a state; the <a href="/facts/Confederate_States_of_America/jMSDM4q3">Confederate States of America</a>; and the United States again since the end of the <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a>. The city developed as a multicultural region practicing many religious traditions from <a href="/facts/Catholicism/rJ4F4gqH">Catholicism</a> to <a href="/facts/Protestantism/NXja4K3g">Protestantism</a> and <a href="/facts/Louisiana_Voodoo/IdptcXFt">Louisiana Voodoo</a>.
Baton Rouge is a major industrial, <a href="/facts/Petrochemical/mzYsaxng">petrochemical</a>, medical, research, motion picture, and technology center of the <a href="/facts/Southern_United_States/ppnGuAtB">Southern United States</a>. It is the location of <a href="/facts/Louisiana_State_University/yg8S4Tyy">Louisiana State University</a>, the <a href="/facts/Louisiana_State_University_System/Ng6BUpGW">LSU system</a>'s <a href="/facts/Flagship_university/bkQIgekS">flagship university</a> and the state's largest institution of higher education. It is also the location of <a href="/facts/Southern_University/XsbwYNDx">Southern University</a>, the flagship institution of the <a href="/facts/Southern_University_System/s865LH7W">Southern University System</a>—the nation's only <a href="/facts/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities/NC4q44T5">historically black college</a> system.
The <a href="/facts/Port_of_Greater_Baton_Rouge/69RpRl2E">Port of Greater Baton Rouge</a> is the tenth-largest in the U.S. by tonnage shipped, and it is the farthest upstream Mississippi River port capable of handling <a href="/facts/Panamax/BLSK4Bok">Panamax</a> ships. Major corporations participating in the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area's economy include <a href="/facts/Amazon_(company)/YzUTUVE8">Amazon</a>, <a href="/facts/Lamar_Advertising_Company/eJIbWjLC">Lamar Advertising Company</a>, <a href="/facts/BBQGuys/fC52Xk3R">BBQGuys</a>, <a href="/facts/Marucci_Sports/4Pk3agRu">Marucci Sports</a>, <a href="/facts/Piccadilly_Restaurants/SoFKkLty">Piccadilly Restaurants</a>, <a href="/facts/Raising_Cane%2527s_Chicken_Fingers/fcUMcxhP">Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers</a>, <a href="/facts/ExxonMobil/0qXyFrM4">ExxonMobil</a>, <a href="/facts/Brown_%2526_Root/HQXnuGQP">Brown & Root</a>, <a href="/facts/Shell_plc/2etvCXCf">Shell</a>, and <a href="/facts/Dow_Chemical_Company/tuTEe6tQ">Dow Chemical Company</a>.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana open-in-new

Baton Rouge, Louisiana