[4] New Iberia is served by Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, operating between Los Angeles and New Orleans.

New Iberia has a major four lane highway, being U.S. 90 (future Interstate 49), and has its own general aviation airfield, Acadiana Regional Airport.

New Iberia dates its founding to the spring of 1779, when a group of some 500 colonists (Malagueños) from Spain, led by Lt. Col. Francisco Bouligny, came up Bayou Teche and settled around what became known as Spanish Lake.The Spanish settlers called the town "Nueva Iberia" in honor of the Iberian Peninsula; French-speakers referred to the town as "Nouvelle Ibérie" while the English settlers arriving after the Louisiana Purchase called it "New Town."

By 1884 a new courthouse was completed on a landscaped lot in downtown New Iberia, at the present-day site of Bouligny Plaza.

The lakes overflowed and filled the city, flooding it under several feet of dirty, brown water.

[9] On December 14, 2022, the southeastern part of the city was heavily damaged by a high-end EF2 tornado, injuring 16 people.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.6 square miles (27.4 km2), all land.

This region has many natural features of interest, such as Avery Island, famous for its Tabasco sauce factory, deposits of rock salt, and Jungle Gardens.

The city of New Iberia was the founding headquarters for Bruce Foods before their relocation to Lafayette; it was also the birthplace of Trappey's Hot Sauce.

Currently, the economy is stimulated by small businesses, agriculture, New Iberia station, Louisiana Hot Sauce, and Acadiana Regional Airport.

The city also hosts El Festival Español de Nueva Iberia, which honors the area's Spanish heritage.

[31] Other notable festivals include the World Championship Gumbo Cook-Off, on the second full weekend in October;[32] and the Books Along the Teche Literary Festival, in April, which celebrates James Lee Burke and South Louisiana literature.

[34] The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945) travelogue book mentions Henry Miller's stay in New Iberia.

[35] In the Electric Mist, a movie based on one of Burke's novels, was filmed in New Iberia in 2009 and starred Tommy Lee Jones.