How many major river basins are there in the US?

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There are 18 major river basins in the 48 states of the contiguous US, but much of the map is dominated by the massive catchment area for the Mississippi River, including the Upper and Lower Mississippi River Basins, along with Missouri River Basin and the Arkansas-White-Red Basin, as seen in pink.

How many basins are in the United States?

There are 78 major river basins, or watersheds, in the lower 48 states. As water moves from the sky to the land to the ocean it travels overland and through the ground in bounded basins called watersheds.

What are the 4 major water basins?

There are five major ocean basins, coordinating with the major oceans of the world: the Pacific basin, the Atlantic basin, the Indian basin, the Arctic basin, and the Southern basin.

What is the largest river basin in the US?

the Mississippi
Along with being the largest U.S. drainage basin, the Mississippi also creates borders for 10 states. The Mississippi River provides necessary resources to the United States and the world and has helped to shape American history and commerce, including tourism and the fishing industry.

What is the largest water basin in the US?

Parts or all of 31 states plus two Canadian provinces drain into the Mississippi River, totaling 41% of the contiguous United States and 15% of North America. Along with being the largest U.S. drainage basin, the Mississippi also creates borders for 10 states.

Which river basin is the biggest?

the Amazon basin
As of 2021, the Amazon basin, located in northern South America, was the largest drainage basin in the world. The Amazon River and its tributaries drain an area nearly seven million square kilometers.

What is the smallest river basin?

Coatan river basin
The calculated drainage area per basin ranges from 682 km² for the smallest basin (Coatan river basin, shared by Mexico and Guatemala) up to 6 Mio km² for the Amazon river basin.