Lafayette (Louisiana)
Lafayette Parish
22-40735
Lafayette is a city ( with a status of "City" ) and the administrative seat of Lafayette Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. In 2010, Lafayette had 120 623 inhabitants, whose number rose to 2012 122 761. Lafayette, making it the fourth largest city in Louisiana.
Lafayette now has a strong tourist industry, mainly because of the culture of the indigenous Cajun. Also you can find the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Geography
Lafayette is located in southern Louisiana on both sides of the Vermilion River, about 70 km north from its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. The border with Texas is located approximately 170 km to the west. The geographical coordinates of 30 ° 13'01 Lafayette are ' north latitude and 92 ° 01'35 "west longitude. The city covers an area of 123.5 km ².
Neighboring cities of Lafayette Carencro ( at the northern city limits ), Breaux Bridge (14,7 km northeast), Parks ( 24 km east ), Broussard (at the southeastern outskirts ), Youngsville (at the südsüdöstlichen city limits ), Maurice (17, 4 km southwest ), Judice (at the western city limit) and Scott (on the west-north- western city limit).
The nearest big cities are Louisiana's capital Baton Rouge ( 96.4 km ENE ), Louisiana's largest city of New Orleans (218 km east), Beaumont, Texas (215 miles west), Texas ' largest city, Houston ( 349 km in the same direction), Shreveport (342 km north- north-west ) and Mississippi's capital Jackson ( 368 km northeast ).
Traffic
Interstate 10 runs through the northern neighborhoods of Lafayette. In the center of the U.S. Highways 90 and 167 and Louisiana Highway 89, 93, 94, 98, 182 and 339 meet together. All other roads are minor roads, some unpaved roadways and urban roads.
In west-east direction, a railroad line of the BNSF Railway runs through Lafayette. The route is also used by the Sunset Limited, one trains running from Los Angeles to New Orleans Amtrak express train, which is making a stop in Lafayette.
The Lafayette Regional Airport is located on the eastern border of the fourth largest airport in terms of passenger numbers of the State of Louisiana. The nearest major international airport is George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (365 miles west).
History
The city was founded in 1821 by Jean Mouton as Vermilionville. The city's economy was primarily influenced by agriculture. In 1884 the City to Marie -Joseph Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, the French officer and hero of the American Revolutionary War, was renamed Lafayette.
Hurricane Lili
On 3 October 2002 Lafayette was hit by Hurricane Lili reached Category 2 on the Saffir -Simpson Hurricane Scale. The hurricane caused power outages in the city, many shop windows in the city center were destroyed, as well as many residential buildings.
Population
According to the census in 2010 lived in Lafayette 120 623 people in 49 444 households. The population density was 978.3 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the 49 444 households lived statistically 2.35 per person.
The racial the population was composed of 63.8 percent white, 31.1 percent African American, 0.3 percent Native American, 1.8 percent Asian and 1.3 percent from other ethnic groups; 1.7 percent were descended from two or more races. Regardless of ethnicity were 3.8 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
21.8 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 66.5 percent were between 18 and 64 and 11.7 percent were 65 years or older. 51.4 percent of the population was female.
The median annual income for a household was $ 44,688. The per capita income was $ 28,030. 18.7 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.
Memorable people
- Jefferson Caffery (1886-1974), Ambassador to the United States
- Walter Davis ( born 1979 ), athlete, world champion in the triple jump
- Clifford Etienne (born 1972 ), heavyweight boxer
- Kevin Faulk (born 1976 ), football player
- Ron Guidry ( born 1950 ), baseball player in Major League Baseball
- Danneel Harris ( born 1979 ), actress
- Valarie Rae Miller ( born 1974 ), actress
- Bobby Parker (1937-2013), guitarist
- Chanda Rubin ( born 1976 ), tennis player