Mississippi River

The **Mississippi River** is a river in the United States. It is the 11th longest river in the world. Its largest city is Memphis, Tennessee.

The name "Mississippi" comes from a Native American name that means "big river". The source of the Mississippi is Lake Itasca in Minnesota, near the border with Canada. The Mississippi flows south through the middle of the United States. It flows through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The mouth of the Mississippi is in the state of Louisiana, south of the city of New Orleans. The Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

At the end of the Mississippi there is a zone in the Gulf of Mexico where very few animals can survive comfortably because of the fertilizer and other chemicals that run off of farms into the river and its tributaries. The rivers then carry them into the gulf.

## Transportation

The Mississippi has been very important for transportation in the history of the United States. In the 1800s, many steamboats traveled on the Mississippi River. St. Louis, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans were important port cities.

## Tributaries

The Mississippi has many large tributaries, or rivers that flow into it. The watershed of the Mississippi covers much of the United States. This means that the Mississippi and its tributaries drain much of the United States.

Some important tributaries of the Mississippi are (listed from the source to the mouth of the river):

|River|
| --- |
|the Minnesota River|
|the St. Croix River|
|the Wisconsin River|
|the Illinois River|
|the Missouri River|
|the Ohio River|
|the Arkansas River|

## The Mississippi River in books

A big part of the book _Huckleberry Finn_ by Mark Twain is set on the Mississippi River. Twain also wrote a book called _Life on the Mississippi_, which had some stories about how he used to work on a steamboat.

## Infobox (river)

- **name**: Mississippi River
- **name etymology**: Ojibwe word _misi-ziibi_, meaning "Great River", or _gichi-ziibi_, meaning "Big River"
- **image**: Efmo View from Fire Point.jpg
- **image caption**: Mississippi River near Fire Point in Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa
- **image size**: 300
- **map**: Mississippiriver-new-01.png
- **map size**: 300
- **map caption**: Mississippi River basin
- **subdivision type1**: Country
- **subdivision name1**: United States
- **subdivision type2**: State
- **subdivision name2**: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana
- **subdivision type5**: Cities
- **subdivision name5**: Saint Cloud, Minnesota, Saint Cloud, MN, Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, Saint Paul, Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, La Crosse, Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI, Quad Cities, Quad Cities, IA/IL, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, MO, Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, TN, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA, New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
- **discharge1 location**: mouth; max and min at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA
- **discharge2 location**: St. Louis
- **source1**: Lake Itasca
- **source1 location**: Itasca State Park, Clearwater County, Minnesota, Clearwater County, Minnesota, MN
- **mouth**: Gulf of Mexico
- **mouth location**: Pilottown, Louisiana, Pilottown, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, LA
- **tributaries left**: St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota), St. Croix River, Wisconsin River, Rock River (Mississippi River), Rock River, Illinois River, Kaskaskia River, Ohio River
- **tributaries right**: Minnesota River, Des Moines River, Missouri River, White River (Arkansas–Missouri), White River, Arkansas River