Small intestine
part of the digestive tract, following the stomach and followed by the large intestine fake
The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the pancreatic duct to aid in digestion. The small intestine is about 6.5 metres (21 feet) long and folds many times to fit in the abdomen. Although it is longer than the large intestine, it is called the small intestine because it is narrower in diameter.
The small intestine has three distinct regions – the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The duodenum, the shortest, is where preparation for absorption through small finger-like protrusions called intestinal villi begins. The jejunum is specialized for the absorption through its lining by enterocytes of small nutrient particles which have been previously digested by enzymes in the duodenum. The main function of the ileum is to absorb vitamin B12, bile salts, and whatever products of digestion were not absorbed by the jejunum.
Structure
Size
The length of the small intestine can vary greatly, from as short as 3 metres (10 feet) to as long as 10.5 m (34+1⁄2 ft), also depending on the measuring technique used. The typical length in a living person is 3–5 m (10–16+1⁄2 ft).
The public source identifies “Small intestine” as part of the digestive tract, following the stomach and followed by the large intestine fake. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Small, intestine and part.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11090. The Library of Congress control number is sh85067575. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Small intestine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.