Presumably its name was in honor of the ship of the same name, on which Captain Robert Gray traveled – he was one of the first who discovered and passed the whole river. Its length is 2000 kilometers, and the area of the basin is 668,217 square kilometers. km. It has more than 60 tributaries, the largest of which are: Snake, Willamette, Kuteni and others. It flows into the Pacific Ocean. Colombia feeds on glaciers, due to which it has a large volume of water and a fairly fast current. More than a dozen hydroelectric power stations have been built on its territory. Like Snake, Colombia is navigable.
Ohio – one of the largest rivers in the United States, is the most full-fledged tributary of the Mississippi. Its length is 2102 kilometers, and the pool area is 528,100 square kilometers. The pool is formed by the confluence of two rivers – Allegheny and Monongahil, originating in the Appalachian mountains. Its main tributaries are Maiami, Maskingham, Tennessee, Kentucky and others. On Ohio, there are strong floods, which are catastrophic. The food of the river is due to groundwater, rainwater, as well as from the rivers flowing into it. One of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the country is built in the Ohio basin.
Southern Red River (Red River) – one of the longest American rivers, is one of the largest tributaries of the Mississippi. Its name was due to clay lands in the watershed of the river. The length of the Red River is about 2190 kilometers. It was formed from the confluence of two small Texan rivers. The South Red River was blocked in the 1940s by a dam to prevent devastating floods. The Red River was surrounded by Tehomo lakes, formed as a result of the installation of the dam, and Fr. Caddo, next to which is located the largest cypress forest on earth. The food of the river is rain and soil.
Colorado is located in the south-west of the United States and is one of the largest and most beautiful rivers of not only the country but also the world. Its total length is 2334 kilometers, and the area of the basin is 637,137 square kilometers. km. Colorado starts from the Rocky Mountains, and connects to the Pacific Ocean in the Gulf of California. Colorado has more than 25 tributaries, the largest are Eagle River, Green River, Hila, Little Colorado and others. It is one of the most controlled rivers in the world: it has 30 large dams. The first of them was built in 1907 and formed the reservoir Powell. In the waters of Colorado, there are about 50 species of fish.
Arkansas is one of the longest rivers and the largest tributaries of the Mississippi. It begins in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. Its length is 2348 kilometers, and the pool area is 505,000 square kilometers. km. It crosses four states: Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma. The largest tributaries of Arkansas are Simarrok and Salt Fork-Arkansas. Arkansas is a navigable river and is a source of water for local residents. Because of the rapid current in the mountainous areas, the river has become popular among tourists who want to go in for extreme swimming.
Rio Grande (Great River) – the largest and longest river in North America. It is on the border of two states of the USA and Mexico. The Mexican name is Rio Bravo. The Rio Grande takes its start in the state of Colorado, the mountains of San Juan and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The most important and large tributaries are the Rio Conchos, Pecos, Devils River. Despite its size, the Rio Grande is not navigable, as it has considerably become shallow. Due to shallowing under threat of extinction are some species of fish and animals. Rio Grande in some areas can dry up and form small ponds, such as lakes. The main food is rain and snow water, as well as mountain keys. The length of the Rio Grande is 3,057 kilometers, and the area of the basin is 607,965 square kilometers.
Yukon (Big River) opens the three longest rivers in the United States. The Yukon flows around the state of Alaska (USA) and in the northwest of Canada. It is a tributary of the Bering Sea. Its length is 3184 kilometers, and the pool area is 832,000 square meters. It begins in Lake Marsh and then moves to the border with Alaska, dividing the state into two equal parts. Its main tributaries are Tanana, Pelly, Koyukuk. Yukon is navigable for three months, as the rest of the year it is covered with ice. The big river is in a mountainous area, so it is full of rapids. In its waters there are valuable species of fish such as salmon, pike, nelma, grayling. The main food of the Yukon is snow water.
Missouri (Big and muddy river) is the longest river in North America, and also the largest tributary of the Mississippi. Its origin Missouri takes in the Rocky Mountains. It flows on the territory of 10 US states and captures 2 Canadian provinces. The river stretched for 3,767 kilometers and formed a basin with an area of 1,371,010 square meters. km., which is one-sixth of the entire territory of the United States. It was formed by the confluence of the rivers Jefferson, Gallatin and Madison. Missouri takes about a hundred major tributaries, the main are Yellowstone, Platt, Kansas and Osage. The turbidity of the Missouri water is explained by the washing out of the mountain stream by a powerful stream of the river. The river feeds on rain and snow waters, as well as the waters of tributaries. Currently it is navigable.
Mississippi is the most important river in the United States, and also ranks third in the world (in the confluence with the tributaries of Missouri and Jefferson) along the lengths after the Amazon and the Nile. It was formed from the confluence of the rivers Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin. Its source is the lake of Aitask. It occupies a part of 10 US states. Uniting with its main tributary of Missouri, it forms an extension of more than 6,000 kilometers. The river’s own length is 3,734 kilometers, and the area of the basin is 2,981,000 square kilometers. The food of the Mississippi is mixed.
The climate
Due to the large size of the country, its length and wide variety of geographical features in the US, it is possible to find areas with almost any climatic characteristics. Most of the USA (states south of 40 degrees north) is located in the subtropical climate zone, temperate climate prevails to the north, Hawaii and southern Florida lie in the tropics, and the north of Alaska belongs to the polar regions. The great plains to the west of the 100th meridian are classified as semi-deserts, the Great Basin and the areas around it are arid, and the coastal regions of California are a Mediterranean climate. The type of climate within the boundaries of one belt can vary significantly depending on the terrain, the proximity of the ocean and other factors. The favorable climate had a considerable influence on the settlement of the continent by Europeans and in many ways contributed to the US occupying the leading positions in the world.
The overall temperature background is fairly uniform. In summer, the temperature in most areas ranges from +22° C to +28° C, with the difference between the northern and southern states is relatively small. Winter in most of the country is quite mild – the average January temperature ranges from -2° C in the north to +8° C in the south. However, considerable temperature fluctuations are not uncommon due to free penetration of air masses both from the Arctic region and from tropical latitudes (the mountain systems of the USA located in the meridional direction act as a kind of «pipe» through which cyclones and anticyclones move from north to south or vice versa, practically without encountering obstacles). In the mountainous regions it is always cooler than in the adjoining territories of the plains – in the summer by 4—8 degrees, in winter – by 7—12. At the same time, in the pre-oceanic regions in winter it is always warmer, and in the summer it is cooler than in the center of the country (the eastern coast of the country, heated by the warm Gulf Stream, has a temperature 5—7 degrees above all central and western regions).
Depending on the nature of the mountain systems, weather stability also changes markedly: in low Appalachians the climate differs little from the flat areas of the east of the country and is quite constant, while the extensive and high ridges of the Cordillera system are widely known for their cooler, dry and unstable weather.
The nature of the distribution of precipitation is also very uneven. In the southeastern states and on the Pacific coast, it drops to 2000 mm
