Mondo Knows Facts

The Mississippi River drains forty per cent of the continental US

Flowing 3,730 kilometres from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi forms a major river basin.

When combined with its major tributary the Missouri River, the Mississippi-Missouri system forms the fourth longest river network in the world. The drainage basin encompasses parts of thirty-one US states and two Canadian provinces. It serves as a vital commercial navigation corridor for agricultural exports.

View of Mississippi River, Natchez, Mississippi
Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence · source

Where this comes from

USGS

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Tags: mississippi, united states, rivers, drainage

The Mississippi River drains forty per cent of the continental US: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
Flowing 3,730 kilometres from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi forms a major river basin. The figure is taken from USGS, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a world geography fact?
Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.