The people of south Louisiana come from many diverse ethnic backgrounds, and the region’s cooking, music, dancing, and folklore reflect origins in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The first Europeans to colonize south Louisiana were the French, who arrived in 1698. During the mid 1700's, French settlers from Nova Scotia, or Acadia, came to south Louisiana, where they adopted a hunting and fishing existence and came to be known as Cajuns, a corruption of Acadian. During the next century, many additional ethnic groups came to south Louisiana, and some joined with the Cajuns in developing a unique culture intimately bound to the natural history of the swamp. In south Louisiana, human history revolved around the abundant plant and animal life of this lush, fertile environment.