New Orleans, the largest city of Louisiana, is located near the Mississippi delta, about 100 miles from where the river flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The city was founded by the French in 1718, but came under Spanish rule in 1763, and finally became part of the US after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. As a major port, it always had a mixed population, with a large segment of French speakers. Part of the Catholic French cultural heritage is the famous Mardi Gras festival, held each year, which gave a reputation to New Orleans as the "Big Easy", a city of carefree, easy-going spirit. The term means "Fat Tuesday" in French (the equivalent of Shrove Tuesday in English), the last day of the Carnival season beginning with Twelfth Night (January 6) and ending with Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter. The last two weeks of the season are marked by parades and processions each day, attracting tens of thousands of tourists into the city. The center of the festivities is the French Quarter, the city's oldest neighborhood and entertainment center.

New Orleans was very severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, because the tropical storm broke the dams of Lake Pontchartrain to the north, flooding a significant part of the city (much of which lies slightly below sea level), killing about 1,300 people.  Many people are worried that New Orleans may never recover entirely from the catastrophe.