Gulf of Maine
large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America
Key facts
- Location
- Northeast coast of the United States and southeast coast of Canada
- Type
- Gulf
- Part of
- North Atlantic Ocean
- River sources
- Saint John River , Penobscot River
- Catchment area
- 69,000 square miles (180,000 km )
- Basin countries
- Canada and the United States
- Surface area
- 36,000 square miles (93,000 km )
- Islands
- Mount Desert Island , Fox Islands ( North Haven and Vinalhaven ), Isle au Haut , Grand Manan
- Settlements
- Boston , Portsmouth , Portland , Saint John
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Area
- 93000
- Image
~9 min read
Article
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. The gulf includes the entire coastlines of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine, as well as Massachusetts north of Cape Cod, and the southern and western coastlines of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, respectively.
The gulf was named for the adjoining English colonial Province of Maine, which was in turn likely named by early explorers after the province of Maine in France. Massachusetts Bay, Penobscot Bay, Passamaquoddy Bay, and the Bay of Fundy are all arms of the Gulf of Maine.