Where does the Mississippi begin and end, or does it?”
Little Elk Lake in Itasca State Park, Minnesota is the headwater of the Mississippi River, and it terminates in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River watershed drains over 40% of the United States and 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. Exact distance is difficult to determine and different organizations make different estimates. The US Geologic Survey has published a number of 2,300 miles (3,705 kilometers), the EPA says it is 2,320 miles long, and the Mississipp
