Louisiana Parish Map: All 64 Parishes

In 1804, the territorial legislature initially attempted to partition the Territory of Orleans into 12 counties. However, the predominantly Francophone population rejected Anglo-American common-law county structures, insisting on the familiar parish boundaries established by the Roman Catholic Church during Spanish and French rule.

In 1807, the territorial legislature compromised: it created 19 parishes while preserving the 12 counties for tax collection and representation. When Louisiana drafted its first state constitution in 1812, the term "parish" was adopted as the official administrative designation, and the county designations were permanently abandoned.

To this day, Louisiana remains the only US state practicing civil law (based on the Napoleonic Code and Digest of 1808) rather than English common law, affecting parish property conveyance, riparian water rights, and probate estates.

Because vast areas of southern Louisiana lie near or below sea level along the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf Coast, flood control cannot be managed solely within arbitrary parish political lines.

The state constitution authorizes independent Levee Districts (such as the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority) that possess separate taxing authority and the power of eminent domain to construct hurricane protection levees, drainage canals, and pump stations spanning multiple parishes.

Consolidated parish-city governments represent another unique adaptation: Orleans Parish is completely coextensive with the City of New Orleans (seat: New Orleans), while East Baton Rouge Parish operates a consolidated council with the City of Baton Rouge.