The Mississippi Gulf Coast – also known as the Mississippi Gulf Coast region – has traditionally referred to the three Mississippi counties which lie on the Gulf of Mexico: Hancock County, Harrison County and Jackson County.

The region was severely damaged by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and again by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Although the broad reference is to an entire region of the state, this phrase is most commonly used as a general replacement for the names of any or all towns which lie either directly on the coastline or along one of its bays, but not for towns in northern regions of the three coastal counties. The relevant towns include, from west to east, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, D'Iberville, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Pascagoula and Moss Point.

In June 2003, the U. S. Census Bureau divided the Metropolitan Statistical Area for the Mississippi Gulf Coast – which previously had been the three coastal counties – into two MSA's that include two additional counties. Additionally, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there was considerable out-migration from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and also New Orleans into more inland areas. Thus, in recent years, the Mississippi Gulf Coast region is generally considered to include as well the next tier of counties to the north: Pearl River County, Stone County and George County.

Mississippi (ⁱ/ˌmɪsɨˈsɪpi/) is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi ("Great River"). Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and the 31st most populous of the 50 United States. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, which was cleared for cotton cultivation in the 19th century. Today, its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States. The state symbol is the magnolia grandiflora tree.

Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas.

In addition to its namesake, major rivers in Mississippi include the Big Black River, the Pearl River, the Yazoo River, the Pascagoula River, and the Tombigbee River. Major lakes include Ross Barnett Reservoir, Arkabutla Lake, Sardis Lake and Grenada Lake. The largest lake in Mississippi is Grenada Lake.

The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South,^{[citation needed]}South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States. All Gulf States are located in the Southern region of the United States.

The economy of the Gulf Coast region is dominated by industries related to fishing, aerospace, agriculture, and tourism. The region is anchored^{[citation needed]} by the cities of Corpus Christi, Houston, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Tampa, and increasingly, Sarasota, all the centers of their respective metropolitan areas and containing large ports.

The Gulf Coast is made of many inlets, bays, and lagoons. The coast is also intersected by numerous rivers, the largest of which is the Mississippi River. Much of the land along the Gulf Coast is, or was, marshland. Ringing the Gulf Coast is the Gulf Coastal Plain which reaches from Southern Texas to the western Florida Panhandle.while the western portions of the Gulf Coast are made up of many barrier islands and peninsulas, including the 130 miles (210 km) Padre Island and Galveston Island located in the U.S. State of Texas. These landforms protect numerous bays and inlets providing as a barrier to oncoming waves. The central part of the Gulf Coast, from eastern Texas through Louisiana, consists primarily of marshland. The eastern part of the Gulf Coast, predominantly Florida, is dotted with many bays and inlets.