The Missing Island Mexico Desperately Wants to Be Real | Half as Interesting

The Gist

Bermeja is a phantom island in the Gulf of Mexico that vanished because it likely never existed outside of historical cartographic errors. Its official existence would grant Mexico exclusive economic zone access to billions of barrels of oil worth over a trillion dollars.

Quick Overview

Bermeja is a mythical island mapped in the Gulf of Mexico since 1540 that holds massive geopolitical and economic significance due to maritime boundary laws. Mexico spent years searching for the island via sonar, satellite, and aerial reconnaissance, only to find completely empty deep water. Under United Nations maritime law, an island requires permanent community habitation and economic independence to generate an exclusive economic zone, whereas mere rocks or low-tide elevations provide much smaller maritime boundaries.

Key Points: Bermeja is supposedly located about 100 miles north of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico at coordinates 22 degrees 33 minutes north and 91 degrees 22 minutes west. The existence of Bermeja would grant Mexico an exclusive economic zone containing an estimated 22.5 billion barrels of oil worth over 1.7 trillion dollars. Spanish cartographer Alonso de Santa Cruz first published Bermeja in his 1540 work Islario General, describing it as a reddish island measuring about 80 square kilometers. A 1775 Spanish survey failed to find any trace of Bermeja, indicating it may have been a copy-paste error from early mapmakers. During oil boundary negotiations between the United States and Mexico in the early 2000s, Mexican authorities searched extensively for the missing island. The National Autonomous University of Mexico conducted underwater sensing and aerial reconnaissance in 2009, confirming there is nothing above or below water at Bermeja's coordinates. United Nations maritime law defines an island as a naturally formed area of land surrounded by water that is above water at high tide and capable of supporting human habitation. Because Bermeja does not exist, Mexico lost billions in potential oil revenue and the mystery of the phantom island remains completely unresolved.