What Is the Longest River In the United States and Where Does the Mississippi River Begin and End?

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Karen Hill

The Mississippi River is 2,340 miles (3,767 km) long, making it the longest river in the United States.

The river originates at Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows southwards in sweeping meanders, and begins to flows into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans, Louisiana.

The current form of the Mississippi River basin was shaped by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the most recent Ice Age.

The Missouri River, at 2,315 miles (3,727 km) long, is the second longest, and together they form the fourth longest river system in the world.

The Missouri River begins its journey in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana, and it joins the Mississippi River a few miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.

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