Mississippi River

The beginning of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park, Minnesota

The Mississippi River is the largest river in the United States. With its tributaries, the Missouri and Jefferson rivers, it forms the longest river in North America, and at 2,341 miles in length, the third longest in the world after the Amazon and the Nile.

The Mississippi River starts at Itasca State Park in Minnesota, and ends at the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. Important cities along the Mississippi include New Orleans, Memphis, and the Twin Cities.

Author Mark Twain, who had briefly worked aboard a steamboat prior to the Civil War,^[1] is heavily associated with the Mississippi River. In particular, his novel Huckleberry Finn which is one of the most famous of all American books, is largely set on the Mississippi River and its surrounding area.

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See also[edit]

• Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster