The United States of America has over 250,000 rivers. The longest river in the USA is the Missouri River; it is a tributary of the Mississippi River and is 2,540 miles long. But the biggest in terms of water volume is the deeper Mississippi River.
The longest un-dammed river in the contiguous USA is the Yellowstone River; it is 692 miles long.
Rivers provide drinking water, irrigation water, transportation, electrical power, drainage, food, and recreation. Rivers also erode land and carry it downstream to the sea. This kind of erosion can even form canyons, like the Grand Canyon, and waterfalls, like Niagara Falls.
While some of the USA rivers and lakes serve as vital waterways for inland navigation others are useful sources of irrigation and power generation. For certain cities like New Orleans, river basins usher in growth and prosperity for the city and its people. The whole drainage topography of the USA may be divided into two main subsystems, namely the Eastern systems and the Pacific systems.
Of the several prominent rivers featured in the USA river map, the major rivers of USA are:
Besides the USA rivers, the USA river map also shows the various lakes, streams and other water bodies in the USA. The lake system of the US comprises Great Lakes of Lake Superior, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan, the first four of which are shared with Canada.
The Great Lakes of the US constitute the largest group of fresh water lakes in the world. Located in east-central North America, the Great Lakes form the largest group of fresh water lakes in the world covering a total area of 244,106 square km. Of the five Great Lakes, only Lake Michigan falls entirely within the territory of the United States with the remaining four being shared with Canada. Apart from being the site for large population concentrations and industrial activities, the Great Lakes also handle the highest volume of fresh water shipping tonnage in the world.
The other major lakes shown in the USA river map are:
| River Maps of different States of USA |
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