New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana, it is the most populous city in Louisiana. Serving as a major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region of the United States.

Orleans Parish (French: paroisse d'Orléans; Spanish: Parroquia de Orleans) is a parish of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 1870, the parish has been coterminous with the city of New Orleans, and the parish and city are largely governed as a single consolidated city.

History
Main article: History of New Orleans
On April 10, 1805, the Territory of Orleans was divided into 12 counties, including Orleans County. On April 14, 1807, the territory was also divided into 19 civil parishes while keeping the previous system of counties intact. Based on the boundaries and names of earlier ecclesiastical parishes, Orleans County was divided into Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parishes, with New Orleans inside the Orleans Parish limits. The county remained responsible for elections and taxation, while the parishes took over responsibility for civil, criminal, probate, and other judicial matters. The system of counties was never explicitly abolished, but the Louisiana Constitution of 1845 dropped any reference to counties and gave their powers to the parishes.[1]

At its establishment, the Orleans Parish government was led by a police jury, which had only limited authority within the city of New Orleans. In 1822, when the police jury began to be elected popularly, the New Orleans City Council was granted a veto over fiscal matters. In 1840, the parish was divided in two along the Mississippi River. A second police jury was established and given authority over Algiers. It was formally named the Police Jury of the Parish of Orleans on the right bank of the River Mississippi. By 1846, the original police jury had become inactive and was abolished, resulting in the consolidation of the left bank with New Orleans.[2][3] In 1870, the remainder of Orleans Parish was consolidated when the city became coextensive with the parish.[4]

The completion of Chef Menteur Highway in the 1850s connected far-flung communities such as Irish Bayou.[5]

Geography
Orleans Parish is coextensive with New Orleans. Both are bounded by St. Tammany Parish and Lake Pontchartrain to the north, St. Bernard Parish and Lake Borgne to the east, Plaquemines Parish to the south, and Jefferson Parish to the south and west. The parish is part of the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area.

Orleans Parish originally extended as far west as present-day Kenner and as far south as Grand Isle. In 1824, uncertainty over the relative locations of Grand Isle and Cheniere Caminada resulted in a territorial dispute between Orleans Parish and Lafourche Interior Parish (now Lafourche). The dispute was resolved in 1825 with the creation of Jefferson Parish, which included these areas.[1]

In 1852, New Orleans annexed the city of LaFayette (now Faubourg Lafayette) while keeping the parish boundaries unchanged, causing the city to extend into Jefferson Parish.[1] However, subsequent annexations of Jefferson in 1870 and Carrollton in 1874 included the redrawing of both city and parish boundaries.[1][6] Since 1870, Orleans Parish has been coextensive with New Orleans. In 1979, parish boundaries through Lake Pontchartrain were defined, resulting in a gain of territory for the parish.[1]