The , derived from the old system in
North America . If measured from the head of the Missouri, the length of the Missouri-Mississippi combination is approximately 6,270 km (3,900 miles). The largest of many large tributaries on the river is the
Ohio River .
With its source
Lake Itasca at 1475 feet (450 m) above sea level in
Itasca State Park located in
Clearwater County, Minnesota , the river falls to 725 feet (220 m) just below
Saint Anthony Falls in
Minneapolis . The Mississippi is joined by the
Illinois River and the
Missouri River near
Saint Louis , and by the
Ohio at
Cairo, Illinois . The
Arkansas River joins the Mississippi in the state of
Arkansas . The
Atchafalaya River in
Louisiana is a major
Distributary of the Mississippi.
The Mississippi drains most of the area between the
Rocky Mountains and the
Appalachian Mountains , except for the areas drained by the
Great Lakes and the
Rio Grande . It runs through two states --
Minnesota and
Louisiana -- and forms the borders of eight states --
Wisconsin ,
Iowa ,
Illinois ,
Missouri ,
Kentucky ,
Arkansas ,
Tennessee , and
Mississippi -- before emptying into the
Gulf Of Mexico about 100 miles (160 km) downstream from
New Orleans . Measurements of the length of the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico vary, but the EPA's number is 2,320 miles (3733 km). A raindrop falling in Lake Itasca would arrive at the Gulf of Mexico in about 90 days.
{Link without Title}
.]]
The river is divided into the upper Mississippi, from its source south to the ; a series of man-made lakes between Minneapolis and
St. Louis ; and the middle Mississippi, a relatively free-flowing river downstream of the confluence with the
Missouri River at St. Louis.
