The United States of America is a large and varied country. Here you can find basic facts about our population and its racial and ethnic diversity, as well as statistics describing both the land and water features of our Nation.

Area

The United States has a total area of more than 3.5 million square miles, making it the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada. It is slightly larger than China, and about half the size of Russia, but has the largest and most technically powerful economy in the world. The United States includes 50 States and one district, as well as several territories and other associated areas that are not States but that are under U.S. jurisdiction. The States vary in size from Rhode Island, the smallest with 1,231 square miles, to Alaska, the largest with 616,240 square miles. The District of Columbia, home to our nation's capital of Washington, DC, covers an area of only 68 square miles. How do the other States and areas stack up? Take a look at the table below. All area measurements are in square miles.

States and District	Total area	Land area	Water area	Rank
Alabama	52,218	50,744	1,475	30
Alaska	616,240	571,949	44,292	1
Arizona	113,998	113,634	364	6
Arkansas	53,178	52,068	1,110	28
California	158,854	155,959	2,896	3
Colorado	104,093	103,717	376	8
Connecticut	5,543	4,845	699	48
Delaware	2,396	1,954	442	49
District of Columbia	68	61	7	--
Florida	59,909	53,927	5,983	23
Georgia	58,970	57,906	1,064	24
Hawaii	6,461	6,423	38	47
Idaho	83,570	82,747	823	14
Illinois	57,914	55,583	2,331	25
Indiana	36,418	35,867	551	38
Iowa	56,271	55,869	402	26
Kansas	82,276	81,815	462	15
Kentucky	40,409	39,728	681	37
Louisiana	49,650	43,562	6,089	31
Maine	33,738	30,861	2,877	39
Maryland	12,297	9,774	2,523	42
Massachusetts	9,240	7,840	1,400	45
Michigan	96,716	56,804	39,912	11
Minnesota	86,938	79,610	7,329	12
Mississippi	48,282	46,907	1,375	32
Missouri	69,704	68,886	818	21
Montana	147,042	145,552	1,490	4
Nebraska	77,353	76,872	481	16
Nevada	110,560	109,825	735	7
New Hampshire	9,282	8,968	314	44
New Jersey	8,214	7,417	797	46
New Mexico	121,589	121,355	234	5
New York	54,077	47,214	6,863	27
North Carolina	52,670	48,711	3,960	29
North Dakota	70,699	68,976	1,724	18
Ohio	44,825	40,948	3,877	34
Oklahoma	69,898	68,667	1,231	20
Oregon	97,126	95,996	1,130	10
Pennsylvania	46,055	44,816	1,239	33
Rhode Island	1,231	1,045	187	50
South Carolina	31,190	30,109	1,080	40
South Dakota	77,116	75,884	1,232	17
Tennessee	42,143	41,217	926	36
Texas	267,256	261,796	5,460	2
Utah	84,898	82,143	2,755	13
Vermont	9,614	9,250	365	43
Virginia	42,328	39,594	2,734	35
Washington	70,634	66,544	4,090	19
West Virginia	24,230	24,078	152	41
Wisconsin	65,498	54,310	11,188	22
Wyoming	97,813	97,100	713	9
United States	3,718,694	3,537,422	181,272

Other areas	Total area	Land area	Water area	Rank
Puerto Rico	3,507	3,425	83
Virgin Islands of the U.S.	149	134	15
American Samoa	287	77	209
Guam	217	210	7
No. Mariana Islands	179	179	0

Total	3,723,033	3,541,447	181,587

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2002

Population

In terms of population, China and India are the two largest countres in the world; each has more than 1 billion people. Third in the population rankings is the United States with more than 280 million people. Those people are not evenly distributed across the country. For example, Alaska, the largest State in area, has one of the smallest populations. In contrast, New Jersey is one of the smallest States but it ranks ninth in population. The table below shows how the States rank for population and also lists the largest city in each State, along with its population.

2000 Population	Total	Rank	Largest City	Population
Alabama	4,447,100	23	Birmingham	242,820
Alaska	626,932	48	Anchorage	260,283
Arizona	5,130,632	20	Phoenix	1,321,045
Arkansas	2,673,400	33	Little Rock	183,133
California	33,871,648	1	Los Angeles	3,694,820
Colorado	4,301,261	24	Denver	554,636
Connecticut	3,405,565	29	Bridgeport	139,529
Delaware	783,600	45	Wilmington	72,664
District of Columbia	572,059	50	Washington	572,059
Florida	15,982,378	4	Jacksonville	735,617
Georgia	8,186,453	10	Atlanta	416,474
Hawaii	1,211,537	42	Honolulu	371,657
Idaho	1,293,953	39	Boise	185,787
Illinois	12,419,293	5	Chicago	2,896,016
Indiana	6,080,485	14	Indianapolis	781,870
Iowa	2,926,324	30	Des Moines	198,682
Kansas	2,688,418	32	Wichita	344,284
Kentucky	4,041,769	25	Louisville	256,231
Louisiana	4,468,976	22	New Orleans	484,674
Maine	1,274,923	40	Portland	64,249
Maryland	5,296,486	19	Baltimore	651,154
Massachusetts	6,349,097	13	Boston	589,141
Michigan	9,938,444	8	Detroit	951,270
Minnesota	4,919,479	21	Minneapolis	382,618
Mississippi	2,844,658	31	Jackson	184,256
Missouri	5,595,211	17	Kansas City	441,545
Montana	902,195	44	Billings	89,847
Nebraska	1,711,263	38	Omaha	390,007
Nevada	1,998,257	35	Las Vegas	478,434
New Hampshire	1,235,786	41	Manchester	107,006
New Jersey	8,414,350	9	Newark	273,546
New Mexico	1,819,046	36	Albuquerque	448,607
New York	18,976,457	3	New York	8,008,278
North Carolina	8,049,313	11	Charlotte	540,828
North Dakota	642,200	47	Fargo	90,559
Ohio	11,353,140	7	Columbus	711,470
Oklahoma	3,450,654	27	Oklahoma City	506,132
Oregon	3,421,399	28	Portland	529,121
Pennsylvania	12,281,054	6	Philadelphia	1,517,550
Rhode Island	1,048,319	43	Providence	173,618
South Carolina	4,012,012	26	Columbia	116,278
South Dakota	754,844	46	Sioux Falls	123,975
Tennessee	5,689,283	16	Memphis	650,100
Texas	20,851,820	2	Houston	1,953,631
Utah	2,233,169	34	Salt Lake City	181,743
Vermont	608,827	49	Burlington	38,889
Virginia	7,078,515	12	Virginia Beach	425,257
Washington	5,894,121	15	Seattle	563,374
West Virginia	1,808,344	37	Charleston	53,421
Wisconsin	5,363,675	18	Milwaukee	596,974
Wyoming	493,782	51	Cheyenne	53,011
United States	281,421,906

U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census of Population and Housing

Racial and Ethnic Diversity

The United States is a nation of many different races. The Census Bureau collects both racial and ethnic information based on how people describe themselves. The majority of Americans give their race as White, but many other races are represented in our diverse population.

Race	Number	% of Population
American Indian and Alaska Native	2,475,956	0.9
Asian	10,242,998	3.6
Black or African American	34,658,190	12.3
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	398,835	0.1
White	211,460,626	75.1
Some other race	15,359,073	5.5
Two or more races	6,826,228	2.4

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000

A significant number of people in the United States describe themselves as Hispanic or Latino. According to the Office of Management and Budget, Hispanic or Latino is defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race." In data collection and presentation, Federal agencies are required to use a minimum of two ethnicities: "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino."

Hispanic Or Latino	Number	Percent of total population
Hispanic or Latino	35,305,818	12.5
Not Hispanic or Latino	246,116,088	87.5

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000

Languages

While the United States does not have an official language, 82 percent of the population speaks English at home and English is the language most commonly used for government business. English is used for legislation and other official documents, and laws making it the official language have been passed in more than half the States. However, millions of people in the United States speak languages other than English. Eleven percent of the population speaks Spanish or Spanish Creole at home, and the remaining population speaks a variety of other languages. Census Bureau statistics on language are only collected for people over the age of 5. The major languages spoken in the United States are listed in the table below.

Language spoken at home	Population over age 5
English	215,423,557
Spanish or Spanish Creole	28,101,052
Chinese	2,022,143
French	1,643,838
German	1,383,442
Tagalog	1,224,241
Vietnamese	1,009,627
Italian	1,008,370
Total population over age 5	262,375,152

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000

Borders

The United States shares borders with both Canada and Mexico. The 5,525-mile boundary between Canada and the United States is the longest undefended boundary in the world. There are more than 86 million passenger trips between the United States and Canada each year, and more than 227 million between the United States and Mexico. Only those States with international borders are included in the table below.

State or District	Length of International border (Statute Miles)	Country with which border is shared
Alaska	1,538	Canada
Idaho	45	Canada
Maine	611	Canada
Michigan	721	Canada
Minnesota	547	Canada
Montana	545	Canada
New Hampshire	58	Canada
New York	445	Canada
North Dakota	310	Canada
Ohio	146	Canada
Pennsylvania	42	Canada
Vermont	90	Canada
Washington	427	Canada
United States-Canada total	5,525	Canada
Arizona	373	Mexico
California	140	Mexico
New Mexico	180	Mexico
Texas	1,241	Mexico
United States-Mexico total	1,933	Mexico

Source: U.S.-Canada lengths: International Boundary Commission, 2003
U.S.-Mexico lengths: U.S. Geological Survey, 1976

Coastline and Shoreline

The shore offers us both recreation and commerce. The extensive shoreline of the United States includes beaches, rocks, and swamps; it is the home of many major ports and the location of thousands of homes.

The term coastline is used to describe the general outline of the seacoast. For the table below, United States coastline measurements were made from small-scale maps, and the coastline was generalized. The coastlines of large sounds and bays were included. Measurements were made in 1948.

Shoreline is the term used to describe a more detailed measure of the seacoast. The tidal shoreline figures in the table below were obtained in 1939-1940 from the largest-scale charts and maps then available. Shoreline of the outer coast, offshore islands, sounds, and bays was included, as well as the tidal portion of rivers and creeks.

Only States with coastline or shoreline are included in the following table.

State or District	Coastline (Statute Miles)
State or District	General Coastline	Tidal Shoreline
Alabama	53	607
Alaska	6,640	33,904
California	840	3,427
Connecticut	--	618
Delaware	28	381
Florida	1,350	8,426
Georgia	100	2,344
Hawaii	750	1,052
Louisiana	397	7,721
Maine	228	3,478
Maryland	31	3,190
Massachusetts	192	1,519
Mississippi	44	359
New Hampshire	13	131
New Jersey	130	1,792
New York	127	1,850
North Carolina	301	3,375
Oregon	296	1,410
Pennsylvania	--	89
Rhode Island	40	384
South Carolina	187	2,876
Texas	367	3,359
Virginia	112	3,315
Washington	157	3,026
Atlantic	2,069	28,673
Gulf of Mexico	1,621	17,141
Pacific	7,623	40,298
United States	12,383	88,633

Source: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 1975

Islands

The island of Hawaii is the largest island in the United States, although small by world standards (Australia is more than 2 million square miles, and Greenland is more than 800,000 square miles). Most of the other large islands in the United States are in Alaska. The top 20 islands in the United States are listed below.

Island	Area in square miles
Hawaii, Hawaii	4,054
Kodiak, Alaska	3,698
Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico	3,372
Prince of Wales, Alaska	2,630
Chichagof, Alaska	2,083
St. Lawrence, Alaska	1,903
Admiralty, Alaska	1,688
Nunivak, Alaska	1,639
Baranof, Alaska	1,632
Unimak, Alaska	1,599
Long Island, New York	1,352
Revillagigedo, Alaska	1,150
Kupreanof, Alaska	1,094
Unalaska, Alaska	1,084
Nelson, Alaska	885
Kuiu, Alaska	771
Maui, Hawaii	739
Afognak, Alaska	727
Umnak, Alaska	700
Oahu, Hawaii	607

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 2002

Extremes

Elevation

Death Valley, the lowest point in the United States, is hot, dry, and far below sea level. Mount McKinley, the highest point in the United States, is cold, icy, and thousands of feet above sea level.

There are 2,130 square miles of the United States below sea level, and 20,230 square miles above 10,000 feet. See the table below for the elevation extremes for each State in the United States.

State	Extreme points		County	Elevation in feet
Alabama	Highest point	Cheaha Mtn.	Cleburne	2,407
Alabama	Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico	-	Sea Level
Alaska	Highest point	Mt. McKinley	-	20,320
Alaska	Lowest point	Pacific Ocean	-	Sea Level
Arizona	Highest point	Humphreys Peak	Coconino	12,633
Arizona	Lowest point	Colorado River	Yuma	70
Arkansas	Highest point	Magazine Mtn.	Logan	2,753
Arkansas	Lowest point	Ouachita River	Ashley-Union	55
California	Highest point	Mt. Whitney	Inyo-Tulare	14,494
California	Lowest point	Death Valley	Inyo	-282
Colorado	Highest point	Mt. Elbert	Lake	14,433
Colorado	Lowest point	Arikaree River	Yuma	3,315
Connecticut	Highest point	Mt. Frissell	Litchfield	2,380
Connecticut	Lowest point	Long Island Sound	-	Sea level
Delaware	Highest point	Ebright Road at Delaware-Pennsylvania State line	New Castle	448
Delaware	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
District of Columbia	Highest point	Tenleytown at Reno Reservoir	-	410
District of Columbia	Lowest point	Potomac River	-	1
Florida	Highest point	Britton Hill	Walton	345
Florida	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Georgia	Highest point	Brasstown Bald	Towns-Union	4,784
Georgia	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Hawaii	Highest point	Pu'u Wekiu, Mauna Kea	Hawaii	13,796
Hawaii	Lowest point	Pacific Ocean	-	Sea level
Idaho	Highest point	Borah Peak	Custer	12,662
Idaho	Lowest point	Snake River	Nez Perce	710
Illinois	Highest point	Charles Mound	Jo Daviess	1,235
Illinois	Lowest point	Mississippi River	Alexander	279
Indiana	Highest point	Hoosier Hill	Wayne	1,257
Indiana	Lowest point	Ohio River	Posey	320
Iowa	Highest point	Hawkeye Point	Osceola	1,670
Iowa	Lowest point	Mississippi River	Lee	480
Kansas	Highest point	Mt. Sunflower	Wallace	4,039
Kansas	Lowest point	Verdigris River	Montgomery	679
Kentucky	Highest point	Black Mtn.	Harlan	4,145
Kentucky	Lowest point	Mississippi River	Fulton	257
Louisiana	Highest point	Driskill Mtn.	Bienville	535
Louisiana	Lowest point	New Orleans	Orleans	-8
Maine	Highest point	Mt. Katahdin	Piscataquis	5,268
Maine	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Maryland	Highest point	Backbone Mtn.	Garrett	3,360
Maryland	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Massachusetts	Highest point	Mt. Greylock	Berkshire	3,491
Massachusetts	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Michigan	Highest point	Mt. Arvon	Baraga	1,979
Michigan	Lowest point	Lake Erie	-	571
Minnesota	Highest point	Eagle Mtn.	Cook	2,301
Minnesota	Lowest point	Lake Superior	- -	601
Mississippi	Highest point	Woodall Mtn.	Tishomingo	806
Mississippi	Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico	-	Sea Level
Missouri	Highest point	Taum Sauk Mtn.	Iron	1,772
Missouri	Lowest point	St. Francis River	Dunklin	230
Montana	Highest point	Granite Peak	Park	12,799
Montana	Lowest point	Kootenai River	Lincoln	1,800
Nebraska	Highest point	Panorama Point	Kimball	5,424
Nebraska	Lowest point	Missouri River	Richardson	840
Nevada	Highest point	Boundary Peak	Esmeralda	13,140
Nevada	Lowest point	Colorado River	Clark	479
New Hampshire	Highest point	Mt. Washington	Coos	6,288
New Hampshire	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
New Jersey	Highest point	High Point	Sussex	1,803
New Jersey	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
New Mexico	Highest point	Wheeler Peak	Taos	13,161
New Mexico	Lowest point	Red Bluff Reservoir	Eddy	2,842
New York	Highest point	Mt. Marcy	Essex	5,344
New York	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
North Carolina	Highest point	Mt. Mitchell	Yancey	6,684
North Carolina	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
North Dakota	Highest point	White Butte	Slope	3,506
North Dakota	Lowest point	Red River	Pembina	750
Ohio	Highest point	Campbell Hill	Logan	1,550
Ohio	Lowest point	Ohio River	Hamilton	455
Oklahoma	Highest point	Black Mesa	Cimarron	4,973
Oklahoma	Lowest point	Little River	McCurtain	289
Oregon	Highest point	Mt. Hood	Clackamas- Hood River	11,239
Oregon	Lowest point	Pacific Ocean	-	Sea level
Pennsylvania	Highest point	Mt. Davis	Somerset	3,213
Pennsylvania	Lowest point	Delaware River	Delaware	Sea level
Puerto Rico	Highest point	Cerro de Punta	Ponce District	4,390
Puerto Rico	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Rhode Island	Highest point	Jerimoth Hill	Providence	812
Rhode Island	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Samoa	Highest point	Lata Mtn.	Tau Island	3,160
Samoa	Lowest point	Pacific Ocean	-	Sea level
South Carolina	Highest point	Sassafras Mtn.	Pickens	3,560
South Carolina	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
South Dakota	Highest point	Harney Peak	Pennington	7,242
South Dakota	Lowest point	Big Stone Lake	Roberts	966
Tennessee	Highest point	Clingmans Dome	Sevier	6,643
Tennessee	Lowest point	Mississippi River	Shelby	178
Texas	Highest point	Guadalupe Peak	Culberson	8,749
Texas	Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico	-	Sea level
Utah	Highest point	Kings Peak	Duchesne	13,528
Utah	Lowest point	Beaverdam Wash	Washington	2,000
Vermont	Highest point	Mt. Mansfield	Chittenden	4,393
Vermont	Lowest point	Lake Champlain	-	95
Virginia	Highest point	Mt. Rogers	Grayson-Smyth	5,729
Virginia	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Virgin Islands	Highest point	Crown Mtn.	St. Thomas Island	1,556
Virgin Islands	Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean	-	Sea level
Washington	Highest point	Mt. Rainier West	Pierce	14,411
Washington	Lowest point	Pacific Ocean	-	Sea level
West Virginia	Highest point	Spruce Knob	Pendleton	4,863
West Virginia	Lowest point	Potomac River	Jefferson	240
Wisconsin	Highest point	Timms Hill	Price	1,951
Wisconsin	Lowest point	Lake Michigan	-	579
Wyoming	Highest point	Gannett Peak	Fremont	13,804
Wyoming	Lowest point	Belle Fourche River	Crook	3,099

United States	Highest point	Mt. McKinley, AK	-	20,320
United States	Lowest point	Death Valley	Inyo, CA	-282

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 2002

Extent

The United States crosses 6 time zones, about 120 degrees of longitude, and more than 50 degrees of latitude. What point in the conterminous United States is the farthest north? What point in the 50 States is farthest south? The table below lists the extreme points of the United States.

We have included several listings for the easternmost and westernmost points. Technically, both the easternmost and the westernmost points in the United States are in Alaska, because the tip of the Aleutian Islands is in the Eastern hemisphere. However, when many people think of the extent of the U.S., they are thinking of the span from Maine to Alaska, the way the nation is often shown on a map.

For several of the extreme points, we've used the coordinates for offshore islands as shown on USGS topographic maps. For two of these extremes, there are more accessible places on the mainland that are usually thought of as the extreme point, and we've included the coordinates of those locations in parentheses.

Extreme	State and Location	Latitude	Longitude
North - 50 States	Alaska - Point Barrow	71°23' N	156°28' W
North - 48 conterminous States	Minnesota - Lake of the Woods	49°23' N	95°09' W
South - 50 States	Hawaii - Kalae	18°55' N	155°41' W
South - 48 conterminous States	Florida - Ballast Key	24°31' N	81°58' W
South - 48 conterminous States	(Key West)	(24°33' N)	(81°48' W)
East	Maine - West Quoddy Head	44°49' N	66°57' W
West - 50 States	Alaska - Cape Wrangell, Attu Island	52°55' N	172 27 E
West - 48 conterminous States	Washington - Bodelteh Islands	48°11' N	124°46' W
West - 48 conterminous States	(Cape Alava)	(48°10' N)	(124°44' W)
East measured from Greenwich	Alaska - Pochnoi Point, Semisopochnoi Island	51°57' N	179°47' E
West measured from Greenwich	Amatignak Island	51°17' N	179°09' W

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 2003

Mountains

Mountains historically have presented barriers to exploration and challenges to the adventurous. The United States has varied and beautiful mountains, from the Appalachians in the East, to the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains in the West.

Counting each summit on mountains with multiple summits, there are 102 summits over 14,000 feet in the United States, and more than 3500 summits over 10,000 feet.

Where are the largest mountains in the United States? See the table below for a list of the 20 highest mountains. Mountains with multiple summits are listed only once.

Mountain	Elevation in Feet
Mount McKinley, Alaska	20,320
Mount St. Elias, Alaska	18,008
Mount Foraker, Alaska	17,400
Mount Bona, Alaska	16,500
Mount Blackburn, Alaska	16,390
Mount Sanford, Alaska	16,237
Mount Vancouver, Alaska	15,979
Mount Churchill, Alaska	15,638
Mount Fairweather, Alaska	15,300
Mount Hubbard, Alaska	14,950
Mount Bear, Alaska	14,831
Mount Hunter, Alaska	14,573
Mount Alverstone, Alaska	14,500
Mount Whitney, California	14,494
University Peak, Alaska	14,470
Mount Elbert, Colorado	14,433
Mount Massive, Colorado	14,421
Mount Harvard, Colorado	14,420
Mount Rainier, Washington	14,411
Mount Williamson, California	14,370

U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, 2003

Water

Rivers

Rivers provide transportation, recreation opportunities, water supplies, and habitat for animals. They also shape the surface of the earth. The Mississippi River is probably the most famous river in the United States and it has the greatest discharge, but it isn't the longest river. See the table below for statistics on the rivers of the United States, including the location of the river source, length and rank, discharge and rank, and drainage area and rank.

River	Mouth	Source	Length in mi. (rank)	Discharge (rank)	Drainage (rank)
Missouri²	Missouri	Red Rock Creek, Beaverhead County, MT	2,540 (1)	76.2 (6)	529 (2) (U.S.- Canada)
Mississippi (excluding Atchafalaya- Red River basin)^1,2	Louisiana	Mississippi River,Clearwater County, MN	2,340 (2)	593 (1)	1,150 (1) (U.S.-Canada)
Yukon	Alaska	McNeil River, Yukon Territory, Canada.	1,980 (3)	225 (5)	328 (5) (U.S.-Canada)
Rio Grande	Mexico - Texas	Rio Grande, San Juan County, CO	1,900 (4)	* (-)	336 (4) (U.S.-Mexico)
St. Lawrence (-Great Lakes)	Canada	North River, Lake County, MN	1,900 (4)	348 (2)	396 (3) (U.S.-Canada)
Arkansas	Arkansas	East Fork Arkansas River, Lake County, CO	1,469 (6)	41 (16)	161 (9)
Colorado	Mexico	Colorado River, Grand County, CO	1,450 (7)	* (-)	246 (7) (U.S.-Mexico)
Atchafalaya (excluding water diverted from the Mississippi River)¹	Louisiana	Tierra Blanca Creek, Curry County, NM	1,420 (8)	58 (11)	95.1 (11)
Ohio	Illinois- Kentucky	Allegheny River, Potter County, PA	1,310 (9)	281 (3)	203 (8)
Red¹	Louisiana	Tierra Blanca Creek, Curry County, NM	1,290 (10)	56 (13)	93.2 (12)
Brazos	Texas	Blackwater Draw, Curry County, NM	1,280 (11)	* (-)	45.6 (19)
Columbia	Oregon - Washington	Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada.	1,249 (12)	265 (4)	258 (6) (U.S.-Canada)
Snake	Washington	Snake River, Teton County, WY	1,040 (13)	56.9 (12)	108 (10)
Platte	Nebraska	Grizzly Creek, Jackson County, CO	990 (14)	* (-)	84.9 (13)
Pecos	Texas	Pecos River, Mora County, NM	926 (15)	* (-)	44.3 (-)
Canadian	Oklahoma	Canadian River, Las Animas, County, CO	906 (16)	* (-)	46.9 (18)
Tennessee	Kentucky	Courthouse Creek, Transylvania County, NC	886 (17)	68 (7)	40.9 (-)
Colorado (of Texas)	Texas	Colorado River (of Texas), Dawson County, TX	862 (18)	* (-)	42.3 (-)
North Canadian	Oklahoma	Corrumpa Creek, Union County, NM	800 (19)	* (-)	17.6 (-)
Mobile	Alabama	Tickanetley Creek, Gilmer County, GA	774 (20)	67.2 (8)	44.6 (-)
Kansas	Kansas	Arikaree River, Elbert County, CO	743 (-)	* (-)	59.5 (15)
Kuskokwim	Alaska	South Fork Kuskokwim River at terminus of unnamed glacier, AK	724 (-)	67 (9)	48 (17)
Yellowstone	North Dakota	North Folk Yellowstone River, Park County, WY	692 (-)	* (-)	70 (14)
Tanana	Alaska	Nabesna River at terminus of Nabesna Glacier, AK	659 (-)	41 (16)	44.5 (-)
Gila	Arizona	Middle Fork Gila River, Catron County, NM	649 (-)	* (-)	58.2 (16) (U.S.- Mexico)
Porcupine	Alaska	Porcupine River, Yukon Territory, Canada	569 (-)	23 (-)	45.1 (20) (U.S.-Canada)
Susquehanna	Maryland	Hayden Creek, Otsego County, NY	447 (-)	38.2 (18)	27.2 (-)
Stikine	Alaska	Stikine River, British Columbia, Canada	379 (-)	56 (13)	20 (-) (U.S.-Canada)
Susitna	Alaska	Susitna River at terminus of Susitna Glacier, AK	313 (-)	51 (15)	20 (-)
Willamette	Oregon	Middle Fork Willamette River, Douglas County, OR	309 (-)	37.4 (19)	11.4 (-)
Copper	Alaska	Copper River at Terminus of Copper Glacier, AK	286 (-)	59 (10)	24.4 (-)
Nushagak	Alaska	Nushagak River, AK	285 (-)	36 (20)	13.4 (-)

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 1990
*Less than 15,000 cubic feet per second and therefore not among the largest rivers in terms of discharge.

¹In east-central Louisiana 50 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, the Red River flows into the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi River. The discharge of the Atchafalaya River, as shown in the table above, includes the entire discharge of the Red River, but excludes all water diverted into the Atchafalaya River from the Mississippi River (about 167,000 cubic feet per second). Thus, the respective discharges represent drainage from corresponding drainage areas.
²The total discharge from the entire 1,250,00-square mile Mississippi River system, including the Atchafalaya, Red, and Missouri River basins, averages 651,000 cubic feet per second. For the Mississippi River system as a whole, the longest continuous river channel is from the Missouri River headwater source in Montana to the mouth of the Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico, a combined length of about 3,710 miles.

Lakes

The Great Lakes are the largest lakes in the United States and some of the largest lakes in the world. The 20 largest lakes in the United States are listed below. Included are manmade lakes and those that are only partially within the United States.

Lake	Location	Area in Square Miles
Lake Superior	Michigan-Minnesota-Wisconsin-Ontario	31,700
Lake Huron	Michigan-Ontario	23,000
Lake Michigan	Illinois-Indiana-Michigan-Wisconsin	22,300
Lake Erie	Michigan-New York-Ohio-Pennsylvania-Ontario	9,910
Lake Ontario	New York-Ontario	7,340
Lake of the Woods	Minnesota-Manitoba-Ontario	1,485
Great Salt Lake	Utah	2,117
Iliamna Lake	Alaska	1,014
Lake Oahe (manmade)	North Dakota-South Dakota	685
Lake Okeechobee	Florida	662
Lake Pontchartrain	Louisiana	631
Lake Sakakawea (manmade)	North Dakota	520
Lake Champlain	New York-Vermont-Quebec	490
Becharof Lake	Alaska	453
Lake St. Clair	Michigan-Ontario	430
Red Lake	Minnesota	427
Selawik Lake	Alaska	404
Fort Peck Lake (manmade)	Montana	393
Salton Sea	California	347
Rainy Lake	Minnesota-Ontario	345

About our Great Lakes, NOAA, 2002
U.S. Geological Survey, 2003

Commonly Used Terms

Coastline – The general outline of the seacoast.

Conterminous – Enclosed within a common boundary.

Discharge – The volume of water that passes a given location within a given period of time. Usually expressed in cubic feet per second.

Drainage area – The land area drained by a stream or river, or a network of streams and rivers. Also called a drainage basin or a watershed. Large drainage areas can contain many smaller drainage areas.

Shoreline – A detailed outline of the seacoast.

Statute miles – A distance of 5,280 feet. In contrast, a nautical mile is about 6,076 feet.

Tidal – The portion of a river or creek that is affected by the tide.

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