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, and Jefferson Davis. As of 2020, the combined population of the five parish area was 313,951.
Southwest Louisiana has one metropolitan area: Lake Charles. The southwestern portion of Louisiana is also geographically and culturally attached to Southeast Texas.
Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston and Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan statistical areas with a combined population of 7,662,325 according to the 2020 U.S. census.
View the full Wikipedia page for Southeast TexasLake Charles (French: Lac-Charles) is the fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is a major industrial, cultural, and educational center in the southwest region of the state. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lake Charles's population was 84,872.
The city and metropolitan area of Lake Charles is considered a regionally significant center of petrochemical refining, gambling, tourism, and education, being home to McNeese State University and Sowela Technical Community College. Because of the lakes and waterways throughout the city, metropolitan Lake Charles is often called the "Lake Area".
View the full Wikipedia page for Lake Charles, LouisianaZydeco (/ˈzaɪdɪˌkoʊ, -diː-/ ZY-dih-koh, -dee-; French: zarico) is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by French speaking African Americans of Creole heritage. It incorporates blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles, such as la la and juré. The main instruments are accordion and rubboard (washboard) or vest frottoir.
View the full Wikipedia page for ZydecoThe Lake Charles metropolitan statistical area is a metropolitan area in the Acadiana region of southwest Louisiana that covers three parishes—Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis. According to a 2023 census estimate, the MSA had a population of 240,082. It is also part of the larger Lake Charles–DeRidder combined statistical area which had a population of 276,909 in 2023. The Lake Charles MSA also shares borders with the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area to the west. Metropolitan Lake Charles, the principal city, is commonly referred to as the Lake Area.
View the full Wikipedia page for Lake Charles metropolitan area