Chapter Two- Landforms of New Orleans

With miles of waterfront in three directions, New Orleans is partly peninsular. The heart of the city spreads around a curve of the Mississippi River—source of the nickname "Crescent City"—while edging Lake Pontchartrain on the north. Lake Pontchartrain connects to Lake Borgne, a broad opening to the Gulf of Mexico. Lakes, marshlands, and bayous extend from the city in all directions. Louisiana is divided into parishes rather than counties; New Orleans itself occupies the entirety of Orleans Parish, while metropolitan New Orleans extends west into St. Charles, St. John, and St. James; south into Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard Parishes, and north into St. Tammany Parish, and into other parishes as well. (source:http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/New-Orleans-Geography-and-Climate.html)