Southwest Louisiana
Region
West Acadiana
Five-parish Southwest Louisiana region (Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis) highlighted in red.
Five-parish Southwest Louisiana region (Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis) highlighted in red.
Country United States
State Louisiana
Largest cityLake Charles
Population
 (2010)
 • Total292,619

Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) is a five-parish area intersecting the Acadiana and Central Louisiana regions in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is composed of the following parishes (counties): Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis.[1][2] As of 2020, the combined population of the five parish area was 313,951.[3]

Southwest Louisiana has one metropolitan area: Lake Charles. The southwestern portion of Louisiana is also geographically and culturally attached to Southeast Texas.

Three of the parishes — Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis — are also part of Acadiana, the region of French and Acadian influence defined by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1971.[4]

Broader definition

"Southwest Louisiana" is often used to represent a broader region that includes parishes farther east.

The most prominent example is the college now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Until 1998, UL was known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana, the Southwestern Louisiana Institute, and the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute — despite being located in Lafayette, a city roughly 40 miles east of the five-parish area defined here.[5] Its athletic teams were often referred to simply as "Southwestern."[6]

The Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival, the Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association, and the Greater Southwest Louisiana Black Chamber of Commerce are all based in Lafayette or the surrounding area, not near Lake Charles.[7][8][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chamber / Southwest Louisiana". chamberswla.org. Archived from the original on 7 June 2004. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Long Term Care - Medicaid (Health Services Financing) - Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals". www.dhh.louisiana.gov. Archived from the original on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Swift, George (August 17, 2021). "Census data key to redistricting". American Press. The American Press. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. ↑ Shane K. Bernard, The Cajuns: Americanization of a People (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2003), p. 80.
  5. ↑ "University History". louisiana.edu. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "What is the Name?". Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival". Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association". gomardigras.com. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "Contact – GSLBCC". Greater Southwest Louisiana Black Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Southwest Louisiana.

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