<Tr> <Td> - min </Td> <Td> 159,000 cu ft / s (4,502 m / s) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Mississippi River basin </Td> </Tr> <P> The Mississippi River is the chief river of the second - largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system . The stream is entirely within the United States (although its drainage basin reaches into Canada), its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico . With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains . The Mississippi ranks as the fourth - longest and fifteenth - largest river in the world by discharge . The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana . </P> <P> Native Americans long lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries . Most were hunter - gatherers, but some, such as the Mound Builders, formed prolific agricultural societies . The arrival of Europeans in the 16th century changed the native way of life as first explorers, then settlers, ventured into the basin in increasing numbers . The river served first as a barrier, forming borders for New Spain, New France, and the early United States, and then as a vital transportation artery and communications link . In the 19th century, during the height of the ideology of manifest destiny, the Mississippi and several western tributaries, most notably the Missouri, formed pathways for the western expansion of the United States . </P>

Mississippi river on a map of the united states