New Orleans is a place.
New Orleans . The New Orleans metropolitan area ( New Orleans -- Metairie -- Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area ) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States . New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana , straddling the Mississippi River . The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north , St. Bernard to the east , Plaquemines to the south , and Jefferson to the south and west .