Gulf of Mexico

Largely surrounded by the North American continent, the Gulf of Mexico is a marginal sea and an ocean basin shared with the Gulf Coast of the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. The US states along the coastline include Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, all of which make up what is referred to as the “Third Coast,” after the Pacific coast in the west and the Atlantic coast along the east. Approximately 810 nautical miles in width, the Gulf of Mexico is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits which is the passage between the US and Cuba, as well as the Caribbean between Mexico and Cuba via the Yucatan Channel. Nearly half of the Gulf’s basin is shallow continental shelf waters, with the overall size if the basin measuring in at 615,000 square miles.