Gulf Coast of the United States Pensacola, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and increasingly, Sarasota. All are the centers of their respective metropolitan areas and contain large ports. (Baton Rouge is relatively far from the Gulf of Mexico; its port is on the Mississippi River, as is the port of New Orleans.) The Gulf Coast is made of many inlets, bays, and lagoons. The coast is also intersected by numerous rivers, the largest of which is the Mississippi River. Much of the land along the Gulf Coast is, or was, marshland. Ringing the Gulf Coast is the Gulf Coastal Plain which reaches from Southern Texas to the western
Gulf of Bomba eight United States Marines, and a group of mainly Arab allies, traveled more than 500 miles (805 km) from Egypt to attack the state of Tripoli, which was holding as hostages and slaves about 300 Americans from the U.S. Navy frigate captured when "Philadelphia" had run aground in Tripoli Harbor in October 1803. The supplies received from "Argus" enabled Eatons force to win the Battle of Derna – which began on 27 April 1805 – and take control of Derna, the largest city in what was then eastern Tripoli. Gulf of Bomba The Gulf of Bomba is a body of