Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana and its second-largest city. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish. As its capital city, Baton Rouge is the political hub of Louisiana. It is the second-largest city in the state, with an estimated population of 227,715 in 2016. The metropolitan area surrounding the city, known as Greater Baton Rouge, is also the second-largest in Louisiana, with a population of 830,480 people as of 2015. The urban area has around 594,309
Louisiana State Capitol and the remaining territory east of the Mississippi was turned over to Great Britain. The French reclaimed Louisiana from the Spanish in 1803 after the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800; the territory was then sold as the Louisiana Purchase to the United States. The ceremonial transfers of Louisiana from Spain to France took place in front of the colonial seat of government, the Cabildo, in November 1803, with the transfer from France to the U.S. occurring there, as well, less than a month later. New Orleans continued to be the location of the capital of the Territory of Orleans,