The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning 'great river', is the second longest river in North America, with a length of 2,320 miles (3,733 km) from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the fourth longest, and by average discharge (16,200 m³/s), it is the tenth largest. The longest of the many long Mississippi tributaries is the Missouri River with the Arkansas River as second longest. Measured by water volume, the largest of all Mississippi tributaries is the Ohio River. Many of the works of Mark Twain deal with or take place near the Mississippi River.

The Mississippi and its tributaries drain almost all the plains between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. Its drainage basin is the third largest in the world, exceeded in size only by the watersheds of the Amazon and Congo Rivers.

The drainage basin covers 1,247,300 square miles (3,230,490 square kilometers) in 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces. This area encompasses the nation's most productive agricultural and industrial regions. The Mississippi is the nation's chief navigable water route. Barges and towboats on the Mississippi River System carry sixty percent of the agricultural goods, industrial products, and raw materials transported on inland waterways. For more facts on Mississippi River please do visit at Mississippi-River.net.