<P> 41 parishes are governed by a council called the Police Jury . The remaining 23 have various other forms of government, including: council - president, council - manager, parish commission, and consolidated parish / city . </P> <P> Louisiana was formed from French and Spanish colonies, which were both officially Roman Catholic . Local colonial government was based upon parishes, as the local ecclesiastical division (French: paroisse; Spanish: parroquia). </P> <P> Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the territorial legislative council divided the Territory of Orleans (the predecessor of Louisiana state) into 12 counties . The borders of these counties were poorly defined, but they roughly coincided with the colonial parishes, and hence used the same names . </P> <P> On March 31, 1807, the territorial legislature created 19 parishes without abolishing the old counties (which term continued to exist until 1845). In 1811, a constitutional convention was held to prepare for Louisiana's admission into the Union . This organized the state into seven judicial districts, each consisting of groups of parishes . In 1816, the first official map of the state used the term parish, as did the 1845 constitution . Since then, the official term for Louisiana's primary civil divisions has been parishes . </P>

Why does louisiana have parishes and not counties
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