1810, four parishes were established in the region: East Baton Rouge, Feliciana, St. Helena, and St. Tammany. Later in the 19th century, five additional parishes were created as follows, with Feliciana Parish ceasing to exist: Washington Parish, 1819, from part of St. Tammany Parish; East Feliciana and West Feliciana parishes, 1824, by dividing Feliciana Parish; Livingston Parish, 1832, from part of St. Helena Parish; and Tangipahoa Parish, 1869 during the Reconstruction era, from parts of Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, and Washington parishes. In 1990, Louisiana's legislature formally designated this part of the state as "the Republic of West Florida Historic Region, or the Florida Parishes." Since 1993, Interstate 12, which runs east and west through the Northshore region, has been officially designated as the Republic of West Florida Parkway. Geography The Florida Parishes of Louisiana stretch from the Mississippi state line on its eastern and northern borders to the Mississippi River on its western border, and Lake Pontchartrain on its southern border. The most populated urban area is the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. St. Tammany Parish is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. The parishes have a land area of , or 10.755% of the state's total land area. Parishes East Baton Rouge Parish East Feliciana Parish Livingston Parish St. Helena Parish St. Tammany Parish Tangipahoa Parish Washington Parish West Feliciana Parish Climate The Florida Parishes (in common with Greater New Orleans and Acadiana) has a humid subtropical climate, prone to hurricanes. Many parts of the Florida Parishes and parts of Acadiana flooded during the 2016 floods. During Hurricane Katrina, both regions were used as evacuation areas for residents of Greater New Orleans. Demographics The population of the Florida Parishes at the 2010 census was 1,019,357 residents, or 22.49% of the state's population at that time. Its largest communities are, in descending order of population (2010 U.S. census), Baton Rouge, Slidell, Central, Hammond, Shenandoah (CDP), Zachary, Baker, Bogalusa, Mandeville, Gardere (CDP), Merrydale (CDP), Denham Springs, Covington, Lacombe (CDP), and Oak Hills Place (CDP). Tabulating the 2019 census estimates, the Florida Parishes had a population of 1,067,634, making it the third largest region by population following Acadiana (1,490,449) and Greater New Orleans (1,507,017); in 2020, the tabulated population of the Florida Parishes was 1,088,014. Race and ethnicity Common among South Louisiana and in contrast with the U.S. Census Bureau's publications, a substantial portion of the non-Hispanic white, Black