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The Red River, one of several rivers by that name, is a North American river. It flows northward, forming much of the border between Minnesota and North Dakota and then flowing into Canada.

It is called the Red River of the North in order to distinguish it from another Red River (a tributary of the Mississippi River that forms part of the border between Texas and Oklahoma).

It is formed at Wahpeton, North Dakota and Breckenridge, Minnesota by the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Rail rivers.

It passes Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota, then enters the province of Manitoba in Canada. That province's capital, Winnipeg, is at its confluence with the Assiniboine RiverThe Assiniboine River is a river in the prairies of western Canada. It is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked within a flat, shallow valley. It flows south-east from Saskatchewan to "the Forks" in Winnipeg, Manitoba into the Red. The river drains into Lake WinnipegLake Winnipeg (52°N, 92°W) is a large (24 400 km²) lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, at about 55 km north of the city of Winnipeg. It is the sixth-largest freshwater lake in Canada, exceeding even Lake Ontario in size, bu and is part of the Hudson BayHudson Bay is a large body of water in northeastern Canada. It drains a large portion of the northern areas of Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba and the southeastern area of Nunavut. A smaller offshoot of the bay, James Bay, lies to the south. The placename us watershedFor a term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). A watershed or water basin is the region of land that drains into a specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean. Rain that falls anywhere within a given body of wat.

The Red River is one of the remnants of the ancient Lake AgassizLake Agassiz was an immense lake—bigger than all of the present-day Great Lakes combined—in the center of North America, which was fed by glacial runoff at the end of the last ice age. First postulated in 1823 by William Keating, it was named after Louis.

The Red River famously floodedThe Red River in Manitoba and the U. states of Minnesota and North Dakota has flooded repeatedly through the centuries, endangering lives and property. Past floods The river is highly prone to flooding because of its northward flow. As spring approaches, in AprilApril is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 30 days. Derived from the Latin aprilis either from the Latin word aperire which means "to open", probably referring to growing plants in spring, or from the Etruscan name Apru for Aphr 1997, doing $2 billion USD in damage to Grand Forks, North Dakota. Winnipeg, though downstream, suffered only $51 million CDN in damage, because the city is protected by the Red River Floodway which diverted most of the water around it. Other major floods occurred in 1826 and 1950.