James L. Shaffer John T. Tigges The Mississippi River (Poche) Images of America • EUR 25,19 (2024)

FAQs

What percent of the continental US drains into the Mississippi river _____________________? ›

The Mississippi Drainage Basin. The Mississippi River has the third largest drainage basin in the world, exceeded in size only by the watersheds of the Amazon and Congo Rivers. It drains 41 percent of the 48 contiguous states of the United States.

Hernando De Soto is considered the first European to discover the Mississippi River, but he did not waste any time in exploring the entirety of the river.

Britain, Spain, and France all laid claim to land bordering the Mississippi River until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Following the United States victory over Britain in the War of 1812, the highly coveted Mississippi River officially and permanently belonged to the Americans.

Watershed Size

The Mississippi River drains an area of about 3.2 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) including all or parts of 32 states and two Canadian provinces, about 40% of the continental United States.

The total catchment of the Mississippi River covers nearly 40% of the landmass of the continental United States.

A year later, after De Soto died of a fever, his body was buried in the river, as shown in Constantino Brumidi's frescoed Frieze of American History above the painting.

Hernando de Soto (1496 – 1542)

In 1542, de Soto died on the river's bank. The surviving members of the expedition, led by Luis de Moscoso, journeyed downstream in seven small boats, passing by West Baton Rouge Parish lands and finally exiting the mouth of the Mississippi River in the summer of 1543.

He was sent by King Louis XIV to travel south from Canada and sail down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1682, he was the first European explorer to travel the entire length of the Mississippi River. He established fur trading routes along the river.

But France's ruler at the time, Napoleon Bonaparte, was losing interest in establishing a North American empire and needed funds to fight the British, so he directed his emissaries to offer not just New Orleans but all of the Louisiana Territory to the Americans.

“Mississippi,” derived from the French rendering of the Ojibwe name for the river, means “great river” or “gathering of waters." For thousands of years, Native Americans used the Mississippi and its tributaries for transportation and fishing.

What was the Mississippi river called before Mississippi? ›

The Mississippi River is 2,340 miles long, making it the third-longest river in North America. The Ojibwa Indians named the river misi-ziibi, which means "long river." The Mississippi River was formed around 80 million years ago. It begins at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and ends at the Gulf of Mexico.

The deepest place on the Mississippi River is 200-feet deep and is located near Algiers Point in New Orleans. Tennessee boasts some of the finest and most famous whisky distilleries in the world. Kentucky is widely renowned as the center of the time-honored art of distilling fine bourbon.

Answer and Explanation:

The deepest river in the United States is the Hudson River, which reaches 200 feet deep at some points. The St. Lawrence River, which runs through parts of the U.S., is slightly deeper with a maximum depth of 250 feet, but mostly flows along the border of the U.S. and into Canada.

Alaska. Alaska has 25 designated rivers, but there are about 12,000 smaller rivers, as well. The state also has 365,000 miles of river. Sharks, lions, alligators, and more!

Parts or all of 31 states plus two Canadian provinces drain into the Mississippi River, totaling 41% of the contiguous United States and 15% of North America. Along with being the largest U.S. drainage basin, the Mississippi also creates borders for 10 states.

The Mississippi drains 41% (1.25 million sq mi) of the continental U.S., including 31 states and two Canadian provinces.

The Mississippi River, at 3,730 kilometers (2,320 miles) long, is one of the longest river systems in the world and drains all or parts of 31 U.S. states. The continent contains 57 people per square kilometer (22 people per square mile).

The Continental Divide in the United States is the watershed that runs from north to south through the Rocky Mountains, separating the rivers flowing into the Mississippi and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico from those flowing into the Pacific ocean. Here's another interesting fact, also from the World Book.