The depth of the Mississippi River’s influence, in numbers

10 — states that border the Mississippi River
31 — states drained by the Mississippi River watershed ¹
2 — Canadian provinces drained by the Mississippi River watershed ¹
50 — cities that rely on the river for their water supply ¹
40 — percentage of U.S. that’s part of the Mississippi River basin ¹

2,300 — length of the river, in miles ¹

326 — species of birds that migrate along the Mississippi corridor ¹
260 — species of fish that call the Mississippi home ¹

12 million — people who recreate annually along the Upper Mississippi ²
$1.2 billion — amount they spend in riverfront communities ²

60 — percentage of grain exported from the U.S. that’s shipped on the Mississippi ¹
90 million — tons of cargo moved on the Mississippi River between St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis each year ³

58 — semi-truck trailers of load capacity on one barge ⁴
2.25 million — loaves of bread you could bake from the wheat in one barge load ⁴

68 — days it took a Slovenian long-distance swimmer to cover the length of the river in 2002 ⁵
90 — days it would take a raindrop to travel the length of the river ¹

29 — lock-and-dam structures on the Upper Mississippi ⁶
9 — depth of the shipping channel from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge, La., in feet ⁴

24 — length of Lake Pontchartrain over-water highway bridge, the world’s longest, in miles ⁶

6 — average flow rate at the headwaters, in cubic feet per second ¹
600,000 — average flow rate at New Orleans, in cubic feet per second ¹

3 — depth of the river at its headwaters, in feet ¹
200 — depth of the river at its deepest point, near Algiers Point, New Orleans, in feet ¹

436,000 — tons of sediment the river carries each day ¹

85 — years ago that waterskiing was invented on the Mississippi ⁶

Sources:

1: National Park Service, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, General Information About the Mississippi River
2: American Rivers, Army Corps Reform: The Mississippi River, About the River
3: American Rivers, Army Corps Reform: The Mississippi River, A Brief History
4: Mississippi River Resource Page
5: Wikipedia, Martin Strel
6: Mississippi River Parkway Commission, River Facts & Fun