Mississippi river system. The Mississippi River is the "great river". Where does the Mississippi River begin?
Mississippi with Missouri
The Mississippi is called the great river, and it deserves this name: water flows into it from almost a third of the United States. Translated from the Indian name Mississippi means "father of the waters."
The source of the Mississippi is located in the north of the United States, in the flat terrain of Minnesota. The river flows through the plain, and in its lower course - along the Mississippi lowland from north to south and flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
The mouth of the river is a huge delta, consisting of six branches. The length of the river is 3950 km, together with the tributary of the Missouri - 6420 km. The basin area is 3268 thousand km2. The river has food mixed type. The annual flow is 600 km3.
When looking at a map, the Mississippi, along with all its tributaries, resembles a huge sprawling tree. The largest right tributaries of the Mississippi are the Red River, Missouri, Arkansas. Among the left tributaries, the Ohio can be distinguished. The Missouri and Mississippi merge at the city of St. Louis, but the more polluted tributary of the great river does not mix with the clear blue waters of the Mississippi for some time. For almost 40 km below St. Louis, you can see the dirty yellow stream of the Missouri River with branches floating in it. Then the river waters mix and become equally turbid, and even further downstream, in the area of the city of Cairo, in the Mississippi they pour clear waters the Ohio rivers, which also do not immediately mix with the Mississippi.
Mississippi Basin
In the past, it was in the Queiro region that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, which extended much further north than it does today. But the waters of the Mississippi have carried debris and particles with them for centuries. rocks. Gradually, the northern part of the bay was covered with river drifts. Thus, the river itself formed the territory through which it moves now. She winds a lot, and it happens that for a short time bends sharply increase or, on the contrary, straighten out. In this regard, the length of the river is constantly changing, and in various sources different numbers may be used. The data in this book was taken from the Small Atlas of the World, published in 1987.
Prior to European exploration of North America, dense forests grew along the banks of the upper reaches of the Mississippi, and prairies stretched in the lower reaches. But at present, most of the forests have been cut down and the prairies have been plowed up. The more changes were made to nature, the less water remained in the river and the more often unexpected floods occurred.
In the past, the Mississippi overflowed especially widely during high water, flooding coastal cities and numerous islands.
Today, floods are rare, because high earthen dams have been built along the banks, and the width of the river stream has narrowed to 1–3 km. And yet, occasionally, the water in the river rises above the dams and floods the surroundings, causing great damage to the population of coastal cities.
Warm winds often blow in the lower reaches of the river. south winds With Gulf of Mexico. Meeting the cold northern air moving from the Northern Arctic Ocean, they turn out to be the cause of heavy rains and, as a result, regular floods. For example, from 1940 to 1950, there were 100 floods in the Mississippi basin. Five floods were catastrophic and caused enormous damage. In this regard, in addition to dams in upstream river (to the place where the Missouri flows into it), locks were built, thanks to which it is possible to regulate the water level in the river.
Mississippi is important highway countries. It is connected to the Great Lakes by canals. Thanks to the locks, even large ships can rise to the headwaters of the river, pass into the Great Lakes system and descend along the Hudson to New York. Thus, the river is the main waterway connecting the northern and southern states.
Historically, the Mississippi has been considered main river, and the Missouri is its tributary. However, its length is quite large and amounts to 4740 km. Missouri increases the length of the Mississippi by as much as 2470 km.
The Missouri, like the Mississippi, flows through the United States; it is the largest water stream flowing through the Great Plains. Because of the color of the water in the river, the Americans called it Big Muddy, which means “big dirty woman” in English.
The Missouri is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gadlatin arms, originating on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains and joining in Montana at an altitude of 4182 m above sea level near the city of Gallatin City. The source of Madison is located at an altitude of 8301 m above sea level.
From Gallatin City, Missouri carries its waters north along highlands. The width of its valley ranges from 30 to 40 km, high mountain ranges rise along the edges. Near the city of Helena, the river flows through a deep and narrow gorge about 9 km long. This canyon is called the Gateway of the Rocky Mountains. Approximately at a distance of 650 km from the junction of the three branches, the waters of the Missouri break down from a height of 357 m, forming a beautiful waterfall.
At the confluence with the Cheyenne, the Missouri turns southeast and flows to the border with Nebraska, absorbs the waters of several more tributaries, and finally joins the Mississippi. Throughout this distance, the river erodes the banks and carries with it a lot of silt, which enters the Mississippi, making it even dirtier.
The total area of the Missouri basin is 1370 thousand km2, the average water flow reaches 2600 m3/sec. The main left tributary of the river is Milk, and Yellowstone, Platte, and Kansas join it on the right. Other tributaries include the Dakota or James, the Niobpa, the Little Missouri, the Osage, and the Grand.
The Missouri is a shallow river. On the territory of the Great Plains, its runoff does not exceed 19–25 km3. At the same time, there is a large amount of suspended particles in the water. Despite this, it is in this area that the need for water is quite high: it is used both for industrial purposes and for irrigation.
In the spring, floods often occur on the river. Sometimes the waters rise to 10 or even 12 m and flood the surroundings. In the upper reaches of the river, reservoirs and a system of locks were built to help control the water level. There are also two hydroelectric power plants built on the river. The Missouri is navigable all the way from Sioux City to its confluence with the Mississippi.
From book encyclopedic Dictionary(M) author Brockhaus F. A. From the book of 100 great geographical discoveries author Balandin Rudolf Konstantinovich From the book Big Soviet Encyclopedia(LU) author TSBTHE BASIN OF THE GREAT RIVERS (Mississippi - Missouri) In 1541, the Spanish detachment of Hernando de Soto entered the middle course of the Mississippi. At one time in Peru, Hernando de Soto was the deputy of Francisco Pizarro. He returned to Spain rich, but this was not enough for him, and he went to
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (MI) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (RE) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (SP) of the author TSB From the book Secrets of Ancient Civilizations author Thorp Nick From book Natural disasters. Volume 2 by Davis Lee From the author's book From the author's book From the author's book From the author's book From the author's bookUSA Mississippi, Natchez, May 7, 1840. 370 people died, 109 were injured on May 7, 1840, when a tornado hit the city of Natchez (Mississippi). The tornado moved north along the Mississippi River and
From the author's bookUSA Missouri, Marshfield, April 18, 1880 Collision and subsequent merger of two tornadoes killed 101 people and injured 600 people in Marshfield, Missouri. This happened on April 18, 1880. * * * In Marshfield, Missouri, on April 18, 1880, two tornadoes collided. As a result of the meeting and
From the author's bookUnited States Missouri, St. Louis, May 27, 1896 A tornado that spins winds at a speed of 900 kilometers per hour killed 306 residents of St. Louis, Missouri, and caused damage. This happened on May 27, 1896. * * * According to the estimates of weather forecaster Frank X. Biglow, the wind speed
From the author's bookUS piece Louisiana and Mississippi, September 10-20, 1909, 350 people died in a hurricane that collapsed at the Mississippi and Louisiana in September 1909 * * * Giant hurricane, originating over the leeward islands, crossed the Caribbean Sea and touched Cuba. After 10 days, he broke into the coast
Where is the Mississippi River, the largest in North America and the USA, its source and mouth, what is its length and significance for the state? History of development and Interesting Facts about this waterway will be useful for tourists, schoolchildren and inquisitive people.
Geographic data and name
Mississippi is the most great river"in the USA, which is the third in the world in length (3950 km, together with Missouri - 6420 km). It flows through the territory of 10 states, being at the same time the border between many of them. Conventionally, it is divided into 2 parts:
- Upper - from Lake Itasca, located on the territory National Reserve(Minnesota) at an altitude of 450 m, where the source of the Mississippi River is located, to the confluence of the river. Ohio.
- The lower one is from Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. This is exactly the place where the mouth of the Mississippi River is located and where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Its largest tributaries are the Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, Day Moine (left) and Red River (right), of which the Missouri is considered one of the largest on the planet. The name of the river was given by the local Indians of the Ojibwe tribe living in the Great Lakes region. The literal translation of the words misi-ziibi means "great river".
History of discovery and development
The first among the Europeans who was lucky enough to see this river was the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto, who crossed it in 1541. According to other sources, the Mississippi was marked on the Spanish map in 1518, after the expedition entered the delta. Its name in Spanish sounded like "the river of the holy spirit."
It was first explored by French travelers in 1681-1682, one of whom, R. de la Salle, was able to sail along it from beginning to end. After that, France declared all the lands included in the lowlands their own possessions and gave them the name "Louisiana". Given the length and vast territory where the Mississippi River is located, it quickly became an important waterway through which the French transported the necessary goods and people on barges.
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was concluded, according to which the territory to the east of the mouth was transferred to England, and to the west - to Spain. In 1800, the Spanish part of Louisiana was purchased by France, which resold it to the United States. In 1815, America was able to annex the British part of it after the Battle of New Orleans. So, answering the question of which country and where the Mississippi River is located, it would be correct to name the USA.
Navigation on the Mississippi River
The heyday of navigation on the Mississippi began in 1811, when the first paddle steamer was launched along the river, which carried goods between the cities of New Orleans and Ohio. Gradually, the number of steamboats increased, and the river turned into the busiest waterway of the entire continent. According to statistics, by 1850, 5,000 passenger and cargo ships were cruising along the river, and 6 years later, the first bridge was built, over which Railway.
With the appearance of a bridge from Rock Island to Davenport, which began to interfere with steamboat traffic, the problems associated with lawsuits began. Then there was a case when one of the sailing ships rammed one of the parts of the bridge, and a fire started. The litigation turned into a long-term struggle and gradually led to a decrease in the number of water transport. By 1910, only 560 steamships were sailing the Mississippi, but transporting heavy loads by water turned out to be more profitable than rail, and the river is still an important transportation artery for the United States.
Mississippi river system
The territory where the Mississippi River is located, together with its tributaries, covers 31 states and forms a huge water basin 3270 sq. km (40% of the entire territory of the United States, not counting Alaska). On the upper half the river flows through big lakes, forming thresholds in some places. Locks were built from Minneapolis (more than 20), in the middle of the Mississippi it flows in a wide channel (floodplain - up to 15 km).
The delta of the greatest river in North America covers an area of 32 thousand square meters. km and moves into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It is divided into 6 large branches that flow into the bay. Due to the fact that the beginning of the Mississippi is located in the Rocky Mountains, in winter time most of rivers are covered with ice.
The length of navigable routes in the river system is 25 thousand km. The largest port cities: Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Memphis, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Davenport.
Economic importance of the river
Modern shipping on the Mississippi is very developed and diverse. Up to 300 million tons of cargo is transported along the river annually: oil reserves, coal, products of the chemical and agricultural industries. The river provides 16% of all fish products in the US: fish, shrimp, crayfish and oysters. On the territory of the delta, where the Mississippi River is located, and in the zone of its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico, plantations of rice, cotton, sugar cane and soy flourish.
- A lot of beautiful bridges were built across the river, there are 7 national parks. Now they are attractions that tourists enjoy visiting when they go on a trip to the Mississippi.
- The name of the river is inextricably linked with the work of the writer Mark Twain, who populated his books with heroes who live and work on it. The author even took his literary pseudonym from the lexicon of river workers who measured the depth of the fairway. Literally, it translates as "mark two."
- AT late XIX At the beginning of the 20th century, Mississippi became the cradle of American jazz: tourist steamers sailed along it, on board of which an orchestra always played, including with the participation of the famous Louis Armstrong.
The Mississippi is no less important to an American than the Volga is to a Russian. It's not just the most big country, it is inscribed in history, in the very spirit of the United States, being part of the common American culture. And the Russian-speaking person is familiar with this name, if only because Mark Twain sang the river more than once in his adventure works. We will now learn some interesting data about the great North American waterway, in particular, where the Mississippi River begins and where it ends.
A little description
To imagine the scale of the Mississippi, let's give a couple of examples. Needless to say, in North America it is the most major river: both in length and in basin area and runoff. True, the figures given usually refer to a system consisting of two rivers: the Mississippi and its largest tributary, the Missouri. However, in hydrology - the science of water bodies, this method is used regularly. In particular, there is a similar “couple” in Russia: the Ob and the Irtysh.
- The length of the Mississippi, together with the Missouri, is 6,420 km, which makes this river system third on the planet. But if you take only the Mississippi, the result will be much more modest: only 3,770 km, and the thirteenth place in the world.
- The basin area from which the Mississippi-Missouri system collects water is 2,980,000 km². This, by the way, is smaller than the Ob basin with the Irtysh. The Mississippi basin is located on the territory of 32 states of America!
- In terms of water content (water consumption), the Mississippi is inferior to two Russian rivers at once - the Yenisei and the Lena, yet it is among the ten most deep rivers world (9th place).
- Previously, it was believed that the Mississippi basin with the Missouri fits entirely in the United States. According to the latest data, about 1.5% belong to Canada.
As is often the case with mighty rivers, to determine their starting point, the place where they "start" from, can be difficult. After all, each gigantic river at the very beginning looks like an inconspicuous stream, and there may be several such streams. Try to find out which one is more important?
In the case of the Mississippi (by the way, it was named so by the Ojibwe Indians who once lived in this part of America, and this word means " big river”), is considered to be the beginning of a small glacial lake Itasca. It is located in northwestern Minnesota. Interestingly, the name of the lake was given by the European William Morrison, and it consists of parts of two Latin words. The resulting word, consonant with the vocabulary of the Indians, can be understood as "true head." With this name, Morrison implicitly hinted that it was Lake Idasca that gave birth to the Mississippi. Although some scientists still point out that the interpretation of the source is incorrect, and the small Nicolette Creek, which flows into Idaska, should be considered as such.
Be that as it may, but a drop of water from Idasca, falling into the bed of the Mississippi, makes a journey of three months before it ends up at the mouth of a great river. And where is it, this mouth?
We learned where the main begins water artery America, but where does the Mississippi River flow into? But here everything is unambiguous and clear: the channel of this river ends in the Gulf of Mexico, between the USA, Cuba and Mexico.
This huge bay is so tightly separated from Atlantic Ocean that it is often referred to as the American mediterranean sea. An interesting fact is that huge masses fresh water from Mississippi, getting into warm waters bay, do not mix with salt for a long time ocean water, forming a kind of current. They are clearly visible in satellite images when shooting with special filters. The plumes of fresh water in these images are sometimes visible for several hundred kilometers!
It has been established that the waters of the Mississippi are able to go around the Florida peninsula. And already in the open ocean they mix with the Gulf Stream, turning with it to the north. The waters of the river seem to be striving to return back to where they came from.
We have already mentioned the Missouri - the largest tributary of the Mississippi. And here again it is useful to recall Russia. Missouri, together with our Irtysh, are the two most major tributaries on the planet! In addition to the Missouri, the most powerful tributaries of the Mississippi are the Arkansas and Ohio rivers.
Mark Twain wrote a famous work - Life on the Mississippi. It can be concluded from it that in the century before last this river was the main transport artery of the young country, along which river steamers constantly scurried.
Now a huge amount of cargo is still transported along the river, but its origins, the most top part, protected by law, a nature reserve is organized there. Nature lovers come here, just curious to see the small Lake Itasca with beautiful forested shores. This is a special place for every American - the place where the Mississippi River, the American nation, originates.
One of the greatest rivers of the world.
The length is 3766 km (from is-to-ka Mis-su-ri - 5971 km, the third longest river in the world), the basin area is 3300 thousand km2. Be-ret on-cha-lo from the not-pain-sho-go lake Ai-tas-ka (za-po-ved-nick Ai-tas-ka) at an altitude of 450 m, pe-re-se-ka-et from se-ve-ra to the south of the ter-ri-to-ryu of the country, flows into the Mex-si-kan-sky Gulf of the At-lan-ti-che-sky ocean. Basin-re-ki tse-li-com races-po-lo-women in the pre-de-lahs of the Central and Great rav-nins, with-pa-yes og-ra-ni -chen Ska-li-sta-mi go-ra-mi, from the east - Ap-pa-la-cha-mi, from the se-ve-ra - the edge of the Lav-ren-tiy-sky wagon -you-shen-no-sti. Main pri-to-ki: Min-not-so-ta, Ai-o-va, Des Moines, Mis-su-ri, White-ri-ver, Ar-kan-sas, Red-ri-ver (right -s), Black-Ri-ver, Vis-con-sin, Rock, Il-lee-nois, Cas-ka-skia, Ohio, Hat-chi, Yazoo, Big Black-Ri-ver (le-s) .
According to the morpho-logical structure of the do-li-na and the hydro-logical-logical regime of the Mississippi, once-de-la-et-xia to the Upper Miss-si-si-pi and Lower Miss-si-si-pi. Upper Mis-si-si-pi (from is-to-ka to the in-de-tion of the Ohio River) -go-numerical lakes-ra-mi le-si-stay place-st-no-sti; in Russian there are a lot of horns and ka-me-ni-shy pe-re-ka-ts, the most significant of them are on-ho-dyat-sya the cities of Min-nea-po-lis and St. Paul (in-do-pa-dy Saint-an-to-no). Not even in-to-pa-dov those-even in the gorge-lea with cool-you-from-west-to-you-mi-slope-on-mi. Upper Mis-si-si-pi for-re-gu-li-ro-va-on many flat-ti-na-mi, from Min-nea-po-li-sa and St. Pau -la to vpa-de-niya Mis-su-ri co-oru-same-but 29 dams and locks. Not the same vpa-de-niya Mis-su-ri muddy, dirty-but-bu-ro-go color-that water-yes, this-go-on-the-same 150- 180 km flow in Mississippi in the same Russian-le next to the house from-no-si-tel-but transparent-tho-com. The lower Mis-si-si-pi (from the mouth of the Ohio to the sea) te-even along the broadest equal-no-no, folded al-lu-vi-al-ny-mi from-lo-zhe-niya-mi, shi-ri-na to-li-us in degrees-pen-but increase-li-chi-va-et-sya downstream from 25 to 70- 100 km; Rus-lo re-ki from-vi-li-stoe, with many ru-ka-va-mi and old-ri-tsa-mi. The lower Mis-si-si-pi is not for-re-gu-li-ro-va-na. Almost all over the learning-st-ke Rus-lo border-le-but with natural be-re-go-you-mi wa-la-mi, uk-re-p-len-ny-mi in tse- lyakh for-shchi-you from on-waters-not-ny sys-the-my-artificial dams.
When you enter the Mississippi Bay of Mexico, for-mi-ru-et is a wide delta (area 23.9 thousand km2). Ver-shi-na del-you on-ho-dit-sya above the city of Ba-ton Rouge, in the place from de-la-ny from the river to the right-to-mouth-to-go pro-that-ka Old Re-R-Ver, I-one-nyayu-shche-go-Xia with the river Red-Ri-Ver. Ru-word-way network del-you is composed of two main ru-ka-vov - le-vo-go, main-no-go Mis-si-si-pi (continuation-re -ki in pre-de-lah del-you, about 515 km long) and right-of-go (about 220 km), consisting of pro-to-ka Old River and ru-ka-wa At-cha-fa-laya. The left ru-kav falls into the open, deep part of the Gulf of Mexico, dividing into a number of large ru-ka- vov and not-big-to-to-to-kov in the pre-de-lahs of the modern del-you Ba-liz (type of "bird's paw"). The main seaside routes (from west to east) are South-West, South, Lutr. Shi-ri-na-do-to-kov in the del-te Ba-liz from me-nya-et-sya from a few meters to 1 km, depth-by-to from 1 to 30 m. - cut system of lakes (Grand Lake, Six-mile-noe, etc.). In-my-mo-we-not-de-st-vuyu-shchih del-to-vy ru-ka-vov on top-no-sti del-to-howl equal-no-we saved-no-liss os-tat-ki of ancient rus-sels, the so-called bayu (not-big-to-to-to-ki with a very slow te-che-no-it, sometimes overgrown shi ras-ti-tel-no-stu). There are many lakes in the del-th (Mo-re-pa, Pon-char-train, Sal-va-dor, etc.). An important part of the hydro-graphic network of del you is water-but-bog-lot land.
Pi-ta-nie mixed-noe, snow-th-th and pre-f-de-voe. Right pri-to-ki pri-no-syat mainly thawed waters (re-zul-tat melting snow in the Rocky Mountains), left-vye - pi -ta-yut Mississippi is basically up-w-de-you-mi in-da-mi. For re-zhi-ma re-ki ha-rak-ter-ny ve-sen-not-years-her-lo-vo-die and low autumn-not-winter-me-jen. Hours are stormy to-well-de-pa-water-ki, the most you-so-some of them are about-ra-zu-yut-sya when co-pa-de-ni thawing dream -gov in the basins of the Upper Miss-si-si-pi and Mis-su-ri and you-pa-de-niya plentiful do-zh-days in the bass-this-not Ohio. In the bass-this-not the Mississippi, not-red-ki-strong on-water-non-niya, sa-my time-ru-shi-tel-noe - in 1927 (would-la for something-p-le - on the territory of about 600 thousand km2). In 1993, they left the banks of the Mississippi - Mis-su-ri, Il-le-Nois, Des Moines and Vis-con-sin (for-p-le-but 60 thousand km2 of land). The average long-term flow of water at the hydro-logical site of Viksberg (about 750 km from the bay) is 15980 m3 / s (go-to-howl volume of one hundred 504 km3). In the seasonal co-le-ba-ni-yah of water-no-go hundred-ka ho-ro-sho you-de-la-yut-sya many-go-water-ny (ve-sen-not -years-her-lo-vo-die in Feb-ra-le-Ju-ne) and small-lo-water-ny (me-zhen in Ju-le-yan-va-re) period , for some, 59.5 and 40.5% of the year-to-the-th hundred co-from-vet-st-ven-but. The most frequent water months are April (14.3% of the year before the hundred), May (12.6%) and March (12.4% ), the most low-water - September-October and October-October (4.1% of the first hundred). Maximum average monthly races of water (52-54 thousand m3 / s) are observed in February-ra-le, ap-re-le and May , mini-no-small (about 2900 m3 / s) - in october-re. In the pre-de-lahs of the Mississippi Delta, there is an additional runoff of the Red River and you-no-sit in the Gulf of Mexico on average 582 km3 / year.
At the tributaries of Mis-su-ri (in 1953-1967) and Ar-kan-zas (in 1963-1970), a number of large dams and water no-lisch, which led to a two-fold decrease in a hundred of weighed na-no-owls at the mouth (because these have -yut higher turbidity of water). At the end of the 19th century, it was about 500 million tons / year, in the 1st half of the 20th century - approx. 400 million tons/year, at the end of the 20th century - 210 million tons/year.
The average weight on the coast of the Mississippi is 0.43 m. , if you are along the ru-ka-va Mis-si-si-pi, having very small inclinations of the water-top-no-sti, dis-pro -country-nya-yut-sya at a distance of up to 400 km from the za-li-va. Particularly-lo-nyon-nye waters in the tidal phase in me-jen can dis-pro-stray at the bottom at a distance of up to 240 km. On a be-re-zhe del-you, sometimes tropical hooray-ga-ns, co-pro-in-g-give-sya curtains-m-ym wind-rum, strong wave-no-no-eat, on-drive-on-higher-no-eat water levels. Among the most-bo-strongest ones would be cheers-ga-ny Bet-si (1965), Ka-mil-la (1969), Fre-de-ric (1979), Kat-ri -on (2005). At the time of hurrah-ga-na Kat-ri-na in the bottom-call-yah ru-ka-wa Mi-si-si-pi we-li-chi-na-go-na pre-you-si- la you-with-that protective dams (about 7 m), in many places they were pro-ditches, most of the city lass for something-p-len-noy; in the state of Louisia-na, about 1,600 people perished. According to many estimates, this hooray is the largest natural ka-ta-st-ro-fa in the history of the United States.
Mississippi is an important transport art of the country. River-noe su-do-move-st-vo osu-sche-st-v-la-et-sya from the mouth to Min-nea-po-li-sa and St. Po-la, ocean-an-su -yes, under-no-ma-yut-sya through the corner-lub-lyon-ny South-Western ru-kav and further along the ru-ka-woo Mis-si-si-pi to the city of Ba-ton- Rouge In-per-rek del-you pro-ho-dit Be-re-go-howl canal, connecting port-you in-be-re-zhya from-cover-of-that part of At -lan-ti-che-sko-go ocean and Mek-si-kan-sko-go bay. The Mississippi is connected with the basin of the Ve-li-kih lakes and the St. There are 241 species of fish in the waters of the basin-this-on-the-ki river. Ob-va-lo-va-nie and straight-le-nie Rus-la Lower Miss-si-si-pi, as well as you-cutting forests and osu-she-nie floodplains for races -shi-re-niya of agricultural lands led to the destruction of the same 80% of the flood meadows. Wastes from agricultural lands you-call for-dirty-not-the waters of the river pes-ti-qi-da-mi and tok-sich-ny-mi ve-sche-st-va -mi, de-fi-tsit ki-slo-ro-da and ev-tro-fi-ro-va-nie of a series of vo-do-to-kov and vo-do-yomov. On the Mississippi (down the river) are the big cities and the ports of Min-nea-po-lis, St. Paul, Daven-port, St. Louis, Memphis, Ba-ton Rouge, New Or-le-en.
The first European ex-pe-di-tion under the command of E. de Soto reached the Mississippi in the area of \u200b\u200bthe modern city of Memphis in 1541 and descended to the mouth; is-pan-tsy on-zy-wa-li her Re-coy of the Holy Spirit.
Mississippi (eng. Mississippi) is a state located in the southern part of the United States. Population 2,978,512. Area 125,443 km². The capital is the city of Jackson. Big cities: Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Biloxi. The state borders Alabama to the east, Tennessee to the north, Louisiana to the southwest, and Arkansas to the northwest. In 1817 it became the 20th US state.
State Attractions
Of the sights of the state can be distinguished: the old Capitol of 1833, which houses the Museum of History; the new Capitol of 1903 - a copy of the Washington, military historical park Vicksburg. The park contains approximately 1,325 monuments and memorials commemorating the 1863 Siege of Jackson. The university is located 200 km from Jackson, where more than 20,000 students study. interesting place for the tour there will be a museum of agriculture and forestry, in which among the exhibits there is a farm from 1850 with a vegetable garden and a barnyard, as well as a miniature of the main street of the city of the 30s with a large sweet shop. In the gallery of folk art you can buy a souvenir made by the Chocat Indians. There is a petrified forest in Mississippi, in the museum you can look at various plant fossils.
Geography and climate
About 3% of the area of the state is occupied by the water surface. In the south, the state has access to the Gulf of Mexico. The main territory of the state lies on a slightly hilly plain. Between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers there is a flat area, which is limited to the east by the Delta ridge with very fertile soil. More than 50% of the territory is occupied by forests. Summers are usually humid and hot, winters are warm. average temperature January in the northern part of the state is 6°C, in the southern part - 10°C. The south of the state receives more rainfall than the north. Average level rainfall is 1300 mm per year. From the Gulf of Mexico, especially through southern part The state regularly experiences tornado hurricanes (an average of 27 tornadoes per year).
Economy
In 2006, Mississippi had a GDP of $84 billion and a median income of $26,908 (the lowest in the nation). Oil is extracted from minerals and natural gas. Power plants generate 3.5 GW of energy. Main industries: food, clothing, textile, chemical, pulp and paper, shipbuilding. The main agricultural crop is cotton, which is grown in the Mississippi River Valley. Soybeans, corn, rice, wheat and sugar cane are also grown, large cattle, pigs and birds. They are engaged in the extraction of oysters and shrimps, which are then in in large numbers exported to other states. because of low level workers (35% of the population are officially classified as poor), many residents migrate to other states.
Population and religion
The population density is 24.5 people per km². About 37% of African Americans live in Mississippi (the highest rate in the United States). Due to the higher birth rate in many areas of the state, the vast majority are African Americans. The racial makeup of the population was 59.1% White, 37% Black, 2.7% Hispanic or Latino, 0.9% Asian, 0.5% Native American or Eskimo, less than 0.1% Hawaiian or Oceanian. , 1.3% - other races, 1.1% - two or more races. The largest ethnic groups are Americans (mostly descendants of the British and Scots) - 14.2%, followed by 6.9% - Irish, 6.1% - English, 4.5% - Germans, 2.3% - French, 1.9% - Irish-Scots, 1.4% - Italians, 1.2% - Scots. By religion, 87% of the population consider themselves Christians (82% are Protestants, about 4% are Catholics), about 11% are atheists.
Do you know...
It was in the state of Mississippi that the blues originated.
Elvis Presley - the king of rock and roll was born in Mississippi.