Surface Area: Gulf of Mexico vs. Persian Gulf

Gulf of Mexico: ~1,550,000 km² (600,000 sq mi)

Persian Gulf: ~251,000 km² (97,000 sq mi)

Comparison

Metric	Gulf of Mexico	Persian Gulf
Surface Area	1.55M km²	0.25M km²
Ratio	6.2× larger	—
Max Depth	3,762 m (Sigsbee Deep)	90 m (avg 35 m)
Volume	2.4M km³	~6,000 km³
Bordering Countries	US, Mexico, Cuba	Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, SA, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Oman
Key Features	Loop Current, dead zone, oil/gas	Shallow, hypersaline, oil/gas, strategic strait (Hormuz)

Gulf of Mexico: **Oceanic basin** opened by seafloor spreading (Jurassic); deep, wide.
Persian Gulf: **Foreland basin** from Zagros collision; shallow, narrow, filling with sediment.

Both are critical for global energy (offshore oil/gas) and maritime trade (Straits of Florida/Yucatán vs. Hormuz).

Caribbean