Baton Rouge is the capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish (the equivalent of counties in other states). Since 2020, it has been the second-largest city in Louisiana after New Orleans.

The Baton Rouge area owes its historical importance to its strategic site upon the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. This allowed development of a business quarter safe from seasonal flooding. In addition, it built a levee system stretching from the bluff southward to protect the riverfront and low-lying agricultural areas.

It has developed as a culturally rich center, with settlement by immigrants from numerous European nations and African peoples brought to North America as slaves or indentured servants. It was ruled by seven different governments: French, British, and Spanish in the colonial era; the Republic of West Florida; as a United States territory and state; Confederate, and United States again since the end of the American Civil War. Through the various occupying national governments of Baton Rouge, the city and its metropolitan area have developed as a multicultural region practicing many religious traditions from Catholicism to Protestantism, and Louisiana Hoodoo the area has also become home to a sizeable lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and elected the first open LGBT politician for the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Baton Rouge is a culturally distinct area of Louisiana, where Cajun and Creole Catholic culture from Greater New Orleans and Acadiana is syncretized with the African American Baptist culture of the Florida Parishes and South Mississippi. The city of Baton Rouge is a "college town" with Baton Rouge Community College, Louisiana State University, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, and Southern University located throughout the city limits; the students of Louisiana State University alone make up 20% of the city population. In a sizable international population of over 11,300 as of 2008, the largest groups were people of Hispanic and Latino, or Vietnamese descent. This contributes to Baton Rouge's unique culture and diversity.

Arts and theater

Baton Rouge has an expanding visual arts scene, which is centered downtown. Professional performing arts organizations include Theatre Baton Rouge, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, Opera Louisiane and Playmakers—a professional Children's Theatre. This increasing collection of venues includes the Shaw Center for the Arts.[ Opened in 2005, the facility houses the Brunner Gallery, LSU Museum of Art; the Manship Theatre; a contemporary art gallery; traveling exhibits; and several eateries. Another prominent facility is the Louisiana Art and Science Museum, which contains the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium, traveling art exhibits, space displays, and an ancient Egyptian section. Several smaller art galleries, including the Baton Rouge Gallery, offering a range of local art, are scattered throughout the city.

The city has several designated arts and cultural districts, the most prominent of which are the Mid-City Cultural District and the Perkins Road Arts District. These districts provide tax incentives, mostly in the form of exempting state tax on purchases, to promote cultural activity in these areas. Located in a Qualified Census Tract the North Baton Rouge community of Scotlandville was designated a Cultural District in 2020.

A performing arts scene is emerging. LSU's Swine Palace is the foremost theatre company in the city, largely made up of students of LSU's MFA acting program, as well as professional actors and stage managers. A group of physical theatre and circus artists from LSU traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, in summer 2012 to perform Dante in what has become the world's largest Fringe Festival. The show ran in Baton Rouge before going to Fringe, and featured movement, acrobatics, and aerial silk.

Theatre Baton Rouge offers a diverse selection of live theatre performances. Opera Louisiane is Baton Rouge's only professional opera company. The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre is Baton Rouge's professional ballet company. The Nutcracker– A Tale from the Bayou sets the familiar holiday classic in 19th-century Louisiana and has become a Baton Rouge holiday tradition. A Tale from the Bayou features professional dancers, a live orchestra, and more than 300 area children.

Baton Rouge is also home to Forward Arts, a youth writing organization. Forward Arts won the international youth poetry slam, Brave New Voices in 2017, and was the first team from the Southern United States to ever win the competition. Forward Arts is the only youth spoken-word organization in the state of Louisiana. It was founded by Dr. Anna West in 2005, and first housed in the Big Buddy Program.

Baton Rouge is also home to Of Moving Colors Productions, the premier contemporary dance company in the city. For more than 30 years it has brought in internationally established choreographers to create stunning performances. In addition, they conduct extensive community outreach to children and young adults.

Performing venues include the Baton Rouge River Center, Baton Rouge River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, which seats about 1,900; the Manship Theatre, which is located in the Shaw Center for the Arts and seats 350; and the Reilly Theater, which is home to Swine Palace, a nonprofit professional theater company associated with the Louisiana State University Department of Theatre.

The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra has operated since 1947 and currently performs at the River Center Music Hall downtown. Today, it presents more than 60 concerts annually, directed by Timothy Muffitt and David Torns. The BRSO's educational component, the Louisiana Youth Orchestra, made its debut in 1984. It includes almost 180 musicians under the age of 20.