This map, published in February 2025 by Reddit user javo2804, shows the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the Gulf of Mexico, according to data provided by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ).

EEZs determine the marine space up to 200 nautical miles (370.4 kilometres) from the coast over which a country has sovereign rights to explore and exploit resources. The map shows this division for the Gulf of Mexico between the three countries that share control: Mexico (47.67 %), the United States (44.75 %) and Cuba (5.23 %). In addition, there is 2.34 % of the Gulf's surface area that is international waters.

This post appeared on Reddit in the context of the Executive Order signed by Trump on 20 January 2025, renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, in reference to the United States. The map data provides a cartographic response: according to internationally recognised delimitations, Mexico controls a larger area of the Gulf than the United States.

You can read more about this in this article: Trump, Google Maps and the naming of places.

Sources

• The Gulf of Mexico's EEZ: Who has economic control over its waters? [OC].