Which peninsula separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea?

The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. It projects northeastward from Central America and includes Mexico’s states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo, along with Belize and part of Guatemala.

Unlike many mountainous peninsulas, the Yucatán is largely a flat limestone platform. Rainwater often disappears underground through porous rock, forming an extensive network of caves and cenotes. These natural sinkholes are especially common in the northern and central parts of the peninsula.

The region was the heartland of Maya civilization, whose cities included Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, and Tikal in the wider Maya world. Chichén Itzá’s Temple of Kukulcán is one of the peninsula’s best-known archaeological landmarks. In 1901, the port of Progreso became an important outlet on the Gulf coast of the Mexican state of Yucatán.

A common confusion is Campeche: it is both a Mexican state and a city, but not the name of the entire landform. Florida also borders the Gulf of Mexico, but it does not separate that gulf from the Caribbean Sea in this way.