Title: Mississippi River
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Content: Mississippi River
The Mississippi River, 3,779 km (2,348 mi) long, is the second longest river, after the Missouri, in the United States. Its triangular drainage area, covering about 40% of the country and including all or part of 31 states, is approximately 3,250,000 sq km  (1,250,000 sq mi), the third largest in the world. The Mississippi rises in Minnesota and then flows south, following the boundaries between the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana on the west, and Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi on the east. The river, whose name means "father of waters" in the Algonquian language, has long been an important transportation artery of North America. Course of the River
Rising at an elevation of 446 m (1,463 ft) in Lake Itasca, Minn., the Mississippi flows through several glacial lakes to Minneapolis-Saint Paul, where it passes over a series of rapids and is joined by the Minnesota River. After this confluence, the Mississippi is fringed by 60-90-m-high (200-300-ft) bluffs on both sides. Between Minneapolis and Saint Louis, Mo., the most important tributaries are the ILLINOIS, Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, Saint Croix, Iowa, Des Moines, and Rock rivers, some of which drain the nation's most fertile agricultural areas. The MISSOURI RIVER, draining the Great Plains to the west, joins the Mississippi at Saint Louis. It is the longest tributary, and constitutes more than 40% of the Mississippi system drainage area, while furnishing about 20% of the total discharge. At Cairo, Ill., the Mississippi is joined from the east by the OHIO RIVER.