Bodies of Water

The Mississippi

Also Known As Misi-ziibi Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) for "great river" (misi, great; ziibi, river), the source of the English name Mississippi.

Citation Formats

General Reference

Geography Atlas. "The Mississippi." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://geography.interactiveatlas.org/bodies-of-water/the-mississippi.

APA Style

Geography Atlas. (n.d.). The Mississippi. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://geography.interactiveatlas.org/bodies-of-water/the-mississippi

BibTeX

@misc{geographyatlas-the-mississippi,
  author = {Geography Atlas},
  title = {The Mississippi},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://geography.interactiveatlas.org/bodies-of-water/the-mississippi},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Mississippi is the principal river of the United States, rising at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and flowing roughly 3,730 kilometers south to the Gulf of Mexico through a delta below New Orleans. Its drainage basin covers all or part of thirty-two states and two Canadian provinces, one of the largest river systems on Earth, and its combined length with the Missouri, its longest tributary, runs considerably farther than the Mississippi measured alone.

Facts

Area (sq km)

3,225,000 1

Area given is the river's total drainage basin, not a water surface.

Elevation (m)

450 2

Length (km)

3730 1

Measured from the river's own source at Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. The combined Missouri-Mississippi system, counting the Missouri as the headwaters, is considerably longer and is sometimes cited in its place.

Latitude

29.15111 degrees north 2

Longitude

89.25333 degrees west 2

Cross-Tradition Connections