Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico | |
---|---|
Golfo de México[a] | |
![]() Bathymetry of the Gulf of Mexico | |
Location | American Mediterranean Sea |
Coordinates | 25°N 90°W / 25°N 90°W |
River sources | Rio Grande, Mississippi River, Mobile River, Panuco River, Jamapa River, Pascagoula River, Tecolutla River, Usumacinta River, Apalachicola river |
Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea |
Basin countries | |
Max. width | 1,500 km (932.06 mi) |
Surface area | 1,550,000 km2 (600,000 sq mi) |
Average depth | 1,615 metres (5,299 ft)[2] |
Max. depth | 3,750 to 4,384 metres (12,303 to 14,383 ft)[2] |
Settlements | Veracruz, Houston, New Orleans, Corpus Christi, Tampa, Havana, Southwest Florida, Mobile, Gulfport, Tampico, Key West, Cancún, Ciudad del Carmen, Coatzacoalcos, Panama City |
The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin or bay of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a marginal sea of North America.[3][4] The United States of America, Mexico, and Cuba are the countries around it.
The Straits of Florida connect to the rest of the Atlantic Ocean, and the Yucatán Channel connects to the Caribbean Sea. Because of its narrow connection to the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf has very small tides.
The size of the Gulf basin is about 1.6 million km2 (615,000 sq mi). Almost half of the basin is shallow continental-shelf waters. The climate is tropical, with heavy growth of plankton and sea grass.
Petroleum is found near the north and west coast of this gulf. Many hurricanes hit this area, for example, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita hurt many of the oil wells in 2005 in the United States. There is also a big fishing industry in the gulf. The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most important offshore petroleum-production regions in the world, making one-sixth of the United States' total production.[5]
The Gulf was formed by plate tectonics about 300 million years ago.[6]
Gulf of America
In January 2025, United States president Donald Trump signed an executive order that told US federal agencies to start the process of changing the name of northern most part of the gulf within US boundaries to "Gulf of America". The order said this would happen to the northern most part of the gulf within US boundaries and would be changed in federal documents.[7][8] This change was done on January 24, 2025.[9] Other countries in the Gulf, including Mexico and Cuba, have said they will continue to use the "Gulf of Mexico" name.[10] Google Maps varies on the name displayed for the Gulf based on user location.[11][12] People in the United States see "Gulf of America", people in Mexico see, "Gulf of Mexico" and in all other countries both names being displayed as "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)".[13][14][15][16] Apple Maps and Bing Maps also varies the name displayed for the Gulf based on user location.[17][18]
Notes
- ↑ Usually, in Spanish, the name of the country is spelled México; however, in Peninsular (European) Spanish, the variant Méjico is used alongside the usual version. According to the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas by the Royal Spanish Academy and Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, the version with J is also correct; however, the spelling with X is recommended, as it is the one used in Mexico.[1]
References
- ↑ México in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas by Royal Spanish Academy and Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, Madrid: Santillana. 2005. ISBN 978-8-429-40623-8.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "General Facts about the Gulf of Mexico". GulfBase.org. Archived from the original on 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- ↑ "Gulf of Mexico – a sea in Atlantic Ocean". www.deepseawaters.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- ↑ "Gulf of Mexico Region". National Marine Ecosystem Status. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
- ↑ "Gulf of Mexico Fact Sheet". U.S. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
- ↑ Huerta A.D. & Harry D.L. 2012. Wilson cycles, tectonic inheritance, and rifting of the North American Gulf of Mexico continental margin. Geosphere. 8(1):GES00725.1, March 6, 2012. doi:10.1130/GES00725.1
- ↑ Trump, Donald J. (January 20, 2025). "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness". The White House. Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ↑ Rogero, Tiago (2025-01-20). "Can Trump really rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
- ↑ Frazin, Rachel (2025-01-24). "Feds implement 'Gulf of America,' 'Mount McKinley' name changes". The Hill. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ Wagner, James (2025-01-28). "'The Gulf of America'? Here's What Mexicans and Cubans Think". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 28, 2025. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ Google Maps to rename 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' for US users, Reuters, January 28, 2025
- ↑ Grant, Nico (January 27, 2025). "How Google Maps Plans to Handle the 'Gulf of America'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
- ↑ "Google Maps to rename 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' for US users". Reuters. January 27, 2025. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
- ↑ Grant, Nico (January 27, 2025). "How Google Maps Plans to Handle the 'Gulf of America'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
- ↑ "Gulf of America name change in the U.S. — what you'll see in Maps". The Keyword (Press release). Google. February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
- ↑ "Google maps changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America for US users". www.bbc.com. 2025-02-11. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
- ↑ Gurman, Mark (11 February 2025). "Apple Is Renaming Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps App". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
- ↑ Rogers, Reece (February 11, 2025). "Here's How All Online Maps Are Handling the 'Gulf of Mexico' Name Change". Wired. San Francisco. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
Other websites

- Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research
- Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science at the Wayback Machine (archived June 3, 2008)