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Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southwest and south by the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo; and on the southeast by Cuba.
The Gulf of Mexico took shape about 300 million years ago (mya) as a result of plate tectonics. The Gulf of Mexico basin is roughly oval and is about 810 nautical miles (1,500 kilometres; 930 miles) wide. Its floor consists of sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Florida between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba. Because of its narrow connection to the Atlantic Ocean, the gulf has very small tidal ranges.
The size of the gulf basin is about 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 square miles). Almost half of the basin consists of shallow continental shelf waters. The volume of water in the basin is roughly 2.4 million cubic kilometres (580 thousand cubic miles). The gulf is one of the most important offshore petroleum production regions in the world, making up 14% of the United States' total production. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico also contributes to weather across the United States, including severe weather in Tornado Alley.
As with the name of Mexico, the gulf's name is associated with the ethnonym Mexica, which refers to the Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico better known as the Aztecs. In Aztec religion, the gulf was called Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl, or 'House of Chalchiuhtlicue', after the deity of the seas. Believing that the sea and sky merged beyond the horizon, they called the seas ilhuicaatl, meaning 'sky water', contrasting them with finite, landlocked bodies of water, such as lakes. The Maya civilization, which used the gulf as a major trade route, likely called the gulf nahá, meaning 'great water'.
Up to 1530, European maps depicted the gulf, though left it unlabeled. Hernán Cortés called it "Sea of the North" (Spanish: Mar del Norte) in his dispatches, while other Spanish explorers called it the "Gulf of Florida" (Golfo de Florida) or "Gulf of Cortés" (Golfo de Cortés). A 1584 map by Abraham Ortelius also labeled it as the "Sea of the North" (Mare de Nort). Other early European maps called it the "Gulf of St. Michael" (Latin: Sinus S. Michaelis), "Gulf of Yucatán" (Golfo de Iucatan), "Yucatán Sea" (Mare Iuchatanicum), "Great Antillean Gulf" (Sinus Magnus Antillarum), "Cathayan Sea" (Mare Cathaynum), or "Gulf of New Spain" (Spanish: Golfo de Nueva España). At one point, New Spain encircled the gulf, with the Spanish Main extending into what later became Mexico and the southeastern United States.
The name "Gulf of Mexico" (Spanish: golfo de México; French: golphe du Mexique, later golfe du Mexique) first appeared on a world map in 1550 and a historical account in 1552. As with other large bodies of water, Europeans named the gulf after Mexico, land of the Mexica, because mariners needed to cross the gulf to reach that destination. This name has been the most common name since the mid-17th century, when it was still considered a Spanish sea. French Jesuits used this name as early as 1672. In the 18th century, Spanish admiralty charts similarly labeled the gulf as "Mexican Cove" or "Mexican Sound" (Ensenada Mexicana or Seno Mexicano). Until the Republic of Texas broke away from Mexico in 1836, Mexico's coastal boundary extended eastward along the gulf to present-day Louisiana.
Among the other languages of Mexico, the gulf is known as Ayollohco Mexihco in Nahuatl, u golfoil México in Yucatec Maya, and golfo yu'un México in Tzotzil. Although there is no formal protocol on the general naming of international waters, Gulf of Mexico is officially recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization, which seeks to standardize the names of international maritime features for certain purposes and counts all three countries adjacent to the gulf as member states.
In a January 2025 executive order, United States president Donald Trump directed federal agencies to adopt the name Gulf of America for the waters bounded by the U.S. Some major online map platforms and several U.S.-based media outlets voluntarily adopted the change, but controversy over the name included Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum objecting to the declaration.
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Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southwest and south by the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo; and on the southeast by Cuba.
The Gulf of Mexico took shape about 300 million years ago (mya) as a result of plate tectonics. The Gulf of Mexico basin is roughly oval and is about 810 nautical miles (1,500 kilometres; 930 miles) wide. Its floor consists of sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Florida between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba. Because of its narrow connection to the Atlantic Ocean, the gulf has very small tidal ranges.
The size of the gulf basin is about 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 square miles). Almost half of the basin consists of shallow continental shelf waters. The volume of water in the basin is roughly 2.4 million cubic kilometres (580 thousand cubic miles). The gulf is one of the most important offshore petroleum production regions in the world, making up 14% of the United States' total production. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico also contributes to weather across the United States, including severe weather in Tornado Alley.
As with the name of Mexico, the gulf's name is associated with the ethnonym Mexica, which refers to the Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico better known as the Aztecs. In Aztec religion, the gulf was called Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl, or 'House of Chalchiuhtlicue', after the deity of the seas. Believing that the sea and sky merged beyond the horizon, they called the seas ilhuicaatl, meaning 'sky water', contrasting them with finite, landlocked bodies of water, such as lakes. The Maya civilization, which used the gulf as a major trade route, likely called the gulf nahá, meaning 'great water'.
Up to 1530, European maps depicted the gulf, though left it unlabeled. Hernán Cortés called it "Sea of the North" (Spanish: Mar del Norte) in his dispatches, while other Spanish explorers called it the "Gulf of Florida" (Golfo de Florida) or "Gulf of Cortés" (Golfo de Cortés). A 1584 map by Abraham Ortelius also labeled it as the "Sea of the North" (Mare de Nort). Other early European maps called it the "Gulf of St. Michael" (Latin: Sinus S. Michaelis), "Gulf of Yucatán" (Golfo de Iucatan), "Yucatán Sea" (Mare Iuchatanicum), "Great Antillean Gulf" (Sinus Magnus Antillarum), "Cathayan Sea" (Mare Cathaynum), or "Gulf of New Spain" (Spanish: Golfo de Nueva España). At one point, New Spain encircled the gulf, with the Spanish Main extending into what later became Mexico and the southeastern United States.
The name "Gulf of Mexico" (Spanish: golfo de México; French: golphe du Mexique, later golfe du Mexique) first appeared on a world map in 1550 and a historical account in 1552. As with other large bodies of water, Europeans named the gulf after Mexico, land of the Mexica, because mariners needed to cross the gulf to reach that destination. This name has been the most common name since the mid-17th century, when it was still considered a Spanish sea. French Jesuits used this name as early as 1672. In the 18th century, Spanish admiralty charts similarly labeled the gulf as "Mexican Cove" or "Mexican Sound" (Ensenada Mexicana or Seno Mexicano). Until the Republic of Texas broke away from Mexico in 1836, Mexico's coastal boundary extended eastward along the gulf to present-day Louisiana.
Among the other languages of Mexico, the gulf is known as Ayollohco Mexihco in Nahuatl, u golfoil México in Yucatec Maya, and golfo yu'un México in Tzotzil. Although there is no formal protocol on the general naming of international waters, Gulf of Mexico is officially recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization, which seeks to standardize the names of international maritime features for certain purposes and counts all three countries adjacent to the gulf as member states.
In a January 2025 executive order, United States president Donald Trump directed federal agencies to adopt the name Gulf of America for the waters bounded by the U.S. Some major online map platforms and several U.S.-based media outlets voluntarily adopted the change, but controversy over the name included Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum objecting to the declaration.
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