|
|
|
Place Name
|
Iberia
|
|
Pronunciation
|
EI-bir-ee-uh
|
|
Place Status (Type)
|
parish
|
|
Capital is
|
New Iberia
|
|
Population
|
68,297 (1990)
|
|
Location
|
Iberia parish, Louisiana (LA), United States, North America
|
|
Latitude
|
30°01'N
|
|
Longitude
|
91°49'W
|
Iberia
(EI-bir-ee-uh), parish (
588 sq mi/1,523 sq km; 1990 pop.
68,297), S La., on Gulf of Mexico;  New Iberia; 30°01'N
91°49'W. Bounded SW by Vermilion Bay, E by Belle R.; intersected by
Bayou Teche, Big Bayou Pigeon, and Atchafalaya Main Channel. Includes
Avery, Jefferson, and Weeks isls. (salt domes). Oil and gas
wells, huge salt mines, sulphur mines; fisheries (crawfish, catfish,
shrimp, crabs, finfish). Rich agr. area (sugarcane, soybeans, rice,
vegetables, nursery crops; home gardens; cattle; dairying). Varied mfg.
includes food (esp. pepper) prods., apparel, metal prods., industrial
machinery; shipbuilding. Hunting, fur trapping. Crossed by Intracoastal
Waterway. First settled by Span. colonists. Named after the Iberian
Peninsula. L. Peigneur in W. Part of Allakanas State Wildlife Area in
E. L. Fausse Pointe, including state park, in E center. Part of
Cypremort Point State Park in S. Beyond Vermilion Bay, to S, lies large
Marsh Isl. (entirely in Russell Sage State Wildlife Refuge);
3 mi/5 km S of Marsh Isl., in Gulf, are the
Shell Keys (Natl. Wildlife Refuge). Both Marsh Isl. and Shell Keys are
parts of Iberia parish. Formed 1868.
|
