Sea · Mexico
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a long arm of the Pacific Ocean between mainland Mexico and the Baja California peninsula. Also called the Sea of Cortez, it is full of islands, whales and rare sea life.
Picture credit: LIMO 5 (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Gulf of California?
Part of: Pacific Ocean.
Countries on its coasts: Mexico.
The story behind it
The Gulf of California stretches about 1 100 km from the mouth of the Colorado River in the north to the open Pacific in the south. Its shores belong entirely to Mexico. There are 37 major islands; the largest are Isla Tiburón and Isla Ángel de la Guarda. In the north the tide can rise and fall by up to 5 metres. The gulf is a paradise for sea animals: blue whales, humpback whales and grey whales visit it, whale sharks and manta rays glide through the water, and sea lions live here too. It is also the only place on Earth where the vaquita lives, a kind of porpoise that is now in great danger of dying out. In 2005 its islands and protected areas became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fishing towns and ports such as La Paz, Guaymas and Mazatlán lie on its coasts.
Find it on the globe
Gulf of California is there as a name written across its water — tap the water and its card opens. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
Questions children ask
How big is the Gulf of California?
The Gulf of California covers about 160 000 km². It is about 1 100 km long and between roughly 50 and 240 km wide.
What other names does the Gulf of California have?
It is also called Mar de Cortés, the Sea of Cortez. Another name is Mar Bermejo, which means the Vermilion Sea.
What is a vaquita?
The vaquita is a porpoise that lives nowhere else on Earth but in the Gulf of California. It is critically endangered, so a large protected area was set up for it in 1993.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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