Louisiana (French: La Louisiane; by 1879, La Louisiane française) or French Louisiana is an administrative district of New France.

Under French control from 1682–1764 and 1802–04, the area is named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle.

It originally covers an expansive territory that includes most of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River and stretches from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains.

Louisiana is divided into two regions, known as Upper Louisiana (French: Haute-Louisiane), which begins north of the Arkansas River, and Lower Louisiana (French: Basse-Louisiane).

The present-day U.S. state of Louisiana is named for the historical region, although it occupies only a small portion of the territory claimed by the French.

French exploration of the area begins during the reign of Louis XIV, while French Louisiana is not greatly developed, due to a lack of human and financial resources.

As a result of its defeat, in the Seven Years' War, France is forced to cede the eastern part of the territory in 1763 to the victorious British, and the western part to Spain as compensation for that country's loss of Florida.