The Gulf of Mexico is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean located in southeastern North America. It borders eastern Mexico, the southeast United States (from Florida to Texas) and Cuba. Stretching 1,100 miles from west to east, and 800 miles from north to south, it connects with the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Florida, and with the Caribbean Sea through the Yucatn Channel.
The shores of the Gulf are mostly low, sandy, and marshy, containing many lagoons. Major rivers flowing into the Gulf are the Alabama, Brazos, Mississippi, and the Rio Grande, while its main ports are Mobile, Ala.; Tampa and Pensacola, Fla.; New Orleans; Galveston and Corpus Christi, Texas; and Tampico and Veracruz, Mexico.
