Corpus Christi is located on the coast of south Texas on the Gulf of Mexico. Corpus Christi is the 6th largest port in the United States, and is a center for the petroleum industry. The landscape is dotted with numerous oil refineries, petro-chemical plants and various other oil facilities. The Corpus Christi area is host to three United States naval bases, one of which, the Ingleside base, is slated for closure in 2010. Corpus Christi and the surrounding area was once home to a large shrimping fleet, but like the rest of the United States shrimping industry, it has been mostly wiped out by cheaper imports of farm raised shrimp from Southeast Asia. There are still a few shrimp boats operating from the area, but these are clearly just hanging on. South Texas is a major cotton producing area, and so the rural landscape surrounding Corpus Christi is typically one of black earth cotton farms dotted with occassional pump jacks pumping what oil still remains in this part of Texas.