River · United States
Ohio River
The Ohio River begins in Pittsburgh, where two rivers meet, and flows about 1 579 km to the Mississippi. On its way it forms the border between several US states and brings the Mississippi more water than any other tributary.
Picture credit: Antony-22 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Butler Janet, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Ohio River?
The river starts here: Confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It ends in the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois.
Countries on the river: the United States.
The story behind it
The name Ohio comes from the Seneca word Ohi:yo', which means 'good river'. The river starts where the Allegheny and the Monongahela meet in Pittsburgh. From there it flows past big cities such as Cincinnati and Louisville. Long ago the Ohio was the border between states with and without slavery, and people fleeing north to freedom called it the 'River Jordan'. Today 20 locks and dams divide the river into a chain of calm pools, so that big boats can travel on it. At Louisville the river used to rush down the Falls of the Ohio, so a canal was built around them between 1825 and 1830. There, the rocky riverbed is full of fossils about 390 million years old: corals, sponges and even trilobites from an ancient sea.
Questions children ask
How long is the Ohio River?
The Ohio River is about 1 579 km long from Pittsburgh to Cairo. If you add its longest headstream, the Allegheny, the river measures about 2 102 km.
Which states does the Ohio River flow through?
It flows through or along the border of six states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. For long stretches it forms the border between them.
Does the Ohio carry more water than the Mississippi?
Yes, where they meet at Cairo, the Ohio is the bigger river. It brings about 8 000 m³ of water per second, while the Mississippi above the meeting point brings only about 5 900 m³.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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