Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely 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 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. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years
Name of Mexico It was rebuilt during the following three years, after which it was designated as a municipality and capital of the vice-royalty of New Spain. In 1524 the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as "México Tenustitlan", and as of 1585 became officially known simply as "Ciudad de México". The name "Mexico" was used only to refer to the city, and later to a province within New Spain. It was not until the independence of the vice-royalty of New Spain that "Mexico" became the traditional and conventional short-form name of the country. During the 1810s, different insurgent groups advocated and