Assumption Parish, Louisiana

Assumption Parish ((: Paroisse de l'Assomption) is a located in the  of, and was formed in  as an originial parish of the . Its  is . In 2000, its population was 23,388. Assumption is one of the 22  parishes. Its major product is . In proportion to its area, Assumption Parish produces the most sugar of any parish of Louisiana.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 944 (365 ). 877 km² (339 sq mi) of it is land and 67 km² (26 sq mi) of it (7.10%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 90.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 1.svg|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * &  (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 23,388 people, 8,239 households, and 6,311 families residing in the parish. The was 27/km² (69/sq mi). There were 9,635 housing units at an average density of 11/km² (28/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 67.17%, 31.52% or , 0.31% , 0.24% , 0.01% , 0.17% from , and 0.59% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were or  of any race. 81.14% of the population over the age of five spoke only at home, while 17.58% reported speaking  or.

There were 8,239 households out of which 37.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.80% were living together, 14.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.40% were non-families. 20.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.50% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $31,168, and the median income for a family was $36,052. Males had a median income of $35,941 versus $18,065 for females. The for the parish was $14,008. About 19.50% of families and 21.80% of the population were below the, including 28.40% of those under age 18 and 21.70% of those age 65 or over.

Hurricane Katrina
Assumption Parish was not badly affected by as were some parishes in. There were official reports of three deaths in the parish.

Two days before Hurricane Katrina's scheduled landfall, parish government ordered a voluntary evacuation for the entire Parish of Assumption. The next morning, parish leaders met once more and then decided to order a mandatory evacuation for all residents living within the parish.

After Katrina, schools were closed for a week because of widespread power outages, and a curfew was placed throughout the parish.