The
Gulf of Mexico is an
ocean basin largely surrounded by the
North American continent. as well as
Central America. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the
Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by
Mexico, and on the southeast by
Cuba. The
U.S. states of
Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi,
Alabama, and
Florida border the Gulf on the north, which are often referred to as the "Third Coast" in comparison with the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the "south coast", in juxtaposition to the
Great Lakes region being the "north coast."