Major Rivers and Lakes in the United States (2192)

Arkansas ['a:kənso:] – Арканзас

Illinois Waterway [,ili'noi] – водный путь Иллинойс

The United States has an extensive inland waterway system, much of which has been improved by navigation and flood control and developed to produce hydroelectricity and irrigation water. Some of the world's largest dams, manmade lakes, and hydroelectric power plants are on the U.S. rivers. The Mississippi-Missouri river system (6,300 km. long) is the longest in the United States and the second longest in the world (after the Nile). With its hundreds of tributaries, chief among which are the Ohio and the Arkansas, the Central Mississippi Basin drains more than half of the United States. The Yukon, Columbia, Colorado and Rio Grande also have huge drainage basins.

Native Americans called Mississippi "the father of waters". On its journey to the sea, the Mississippi travels through several states and becoming larger and more powerful, it brings water to farmlands. The Mississippi has been an important waterway since early times, when Native Americans travelled on the river in canoes.

Part of the boundary between the United States and Canada is formed by four of the five Great Lakes which are the largest and the deepest in the USA. These are: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. All the Lakes are connected by canals to form the largest body of fresh water in the world. The largest of them is Lake Superior, which as its name implies, is the highest above the sea. South of it is Lake Michigan, entirely in the United States territory; to the east is Lake Huron, from the southern end of which the Saint Clair River leads into Lake Erie. From Lake Erie the Niagara River rushes over the famous Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario, out of which flows the Saint Lawrence River. The Illinois Waterway connects the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River. The Intercoastal Waterway provides passage for shallow draft vessels along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

In the northwest of the state of Utah, close to Salt Lake City, the capital, there is another lake called the Great Salt Lake. It is so salty that the human body cannot sink in it. Its present area is much smaller than the ancient lake of which it is a remnant. The decrease in size is due partly to evaporation, partly to the diversion for irrigation of some of the steams which fill it. The saltiness of the lake has increased as its area has diminished, and today it is about six times as salty as the ocean. Three large rivers flow into the Great Salt Lake from the mountains to the east and southeast – the Jordan, the river upon which Salt Lake City stands, the Weber, and the Bear. But it has no outlet. There are many islands. The largest is Antelope Island.

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