Gulf Coast of the United States Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and these are known as the "Gulf States". The economy of the Gulf Coast area is dominated by industries related to energy, petrochemicals, fishing, aerospace, agriculture, and tourism. The large cities of the region are (from west to east) McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile,
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies already a number of excellent marine research institutes across the country, Furgason pointed out that none focused principally on the Gulf of Mexico, despite the fact that it is a vital part of the economies of the Southern United States, Mexico and Cuba. During the 2001 Texas Legislative Session, Dr. Furgason, with the assistance of State Rep. Robert A. Junell, obtained $15 million from the State of Texas to build a facility for the Harte Research Institute on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi campus. An additional $3 million was added from other state building funds to allow for the construction of