Mississippi River

About Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of 2,320 mi (3,734 km) from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in The Gulf of Mexico. The longest river, a Mississippi tributary, is the Missouri River measuring 2,341 mi (3,767 km).

The Mississippi River is part of the Jefferson-Missouri-Mississippi river system, which is the largest river system in North America and among the largest in the world: by length (3,900 mi or 6,275 km), it is the fourth longest, and by its average discharge of 572,000 cu ft/s (16,200 m³/s), it is the tenth largest river.

The name Mississippi is derived from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi ("Great River") or gichi-ziibi ("Big River") at its headwaters.