密西西比河(Mississippi River)
美国中部的一条河流。源出明尼苏达州艾塔斯卡湖，向南流，在流向墨西哥湾的中途收纳了主要支流密苏里河和俄亥俄河。它穿过纽奥良东南方注入墨西哥湾，全程3,780公里。它是北美洲最大的河流，包括支流在内，流域面积为3,100,000平方公里。1541年西班牙探险家德索托成为第一个发现这条河流的欧洲人。1673年法国探险家若利埃和马凯特顺流而下到了阿肯色河，1682年法国探险家拉萨尔到达这个三角洲，宣称整个密西西比地区归属法国，即路易斯安那。法国掌握了河流上部的控制权，但在1769年下游部分到了西班牙手里。1783年它被指定为美国的西部分界。1803年法国将它作为路易斯安那购地的部分卖给了美国。在美国南北战争里，联邦军於1863年抓获了维克斯堡，打破了美利坚邦联军队对河流的控制。这是一条强大的河流，由於马克吐温的《顽童历险记》而不朽。由於它是美国中部河运大动脉，密西西比河已成为世界上最繁忙的商业航运水道之一。
English version：
Mississippi River
River, central U.S. It rises at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flows south, meeting its major tributaries, the Missouri and the Ohio rivers, about halfway along its journey to the Gulf of Mexico. It enters the Gulf southeast of New Orleans, after a course of 2,350 mi (3,780 km). It is the largest river in North America, and with its tributaries it drains an area of 1.2 million sq mi (3.1 million sq km). Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto was the first European to discover the river in 1541. French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled down it in 1673 as far as the Arkansas River. French explorer R.-R. La Salle, reached the delta in 1682 and claimed the entire Mississippi region for France, as Louisiana. France kept control over the upper river, but the lower portion passed to Spain in 1769. It was designated as the western boundary of the U.S. in 1783. France sold it to the U.S. in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. During the American Civil War, Union forces captured Vicksburg in 1863, breaking the Confederate hold on the river. A powerful river, it was immortalized by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn. As the central river artery of the U.S, it is one of the busiest commercial waterways in the world.