| Atchafalaya River | |
|---|---|
 Atchafalaya River delta on the Gulf of Mexico; view upriver to the northwest. | |
 Atchafalaya River | |
| Etymology | Choctaw for "long river" |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Louisiana |
| Parishes | |
| City | Morgan City, Louisiana |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Mississippi River |
| 2nd source | Red River of the South |
| Source confluence | Old River Control Structure |
| Mouth | Atchafalaya Bay, Gulf of Mexico |
• coordinates | 29°28′46″N 91°16′25″W / 29.47938231°N 91.27371761°W |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Simmesport, Louisiana |
| • average | 218,440 cu/ft. per sec.[1] |
The Atchafalaya River (/əˌtʃæf.əˈlaɪ.ə/[2] French: La Rivière Atchafalaya, Spanish: Río Atchafalaya) is a 137-mile-long (220 km)[3] distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River,[4] and is the fifth largest river in North America, by discharge.[5] The name Atchafalaya comes from Choctaw for 'long river', from hachcha, 'river', and falaya, 'long'.[6]
- ^ "USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics for Louisiana". United States Geological Survey.
- ^ Collins, Andrew (2007). Moon Handbooks New Orleans: Including Cajun Country. p. 324. ISBN 9781566919319.
- ^ "National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ Atchafalaya River Navigation Book. United States Army Corps of Engineers. October 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013.
- ^ Piazza, Bryan P. (2014). The Atchafalaya River Basin: History and Ecology of an American Wetland. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-62349-039-3.
- ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4.