Port Harcourt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Port Harcourt
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Metropolis
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Port Harcourt
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| Nickname(s):
PH-City, P.H, Garden City
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 Port Harcourt
Location in Nigeria
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| Country |  Nigeria |
| State | Rivers |
| LGA(s) | Port Harcourt Obio-Akpor Okrika |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Incorporation | 1913 |
| Named for | Lewis Vernon Harcourt |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–Council |
| • Body | Port Harcourt City Council |
| Area | |
| • Metropolis | 369 km2 (142 sq mi) |
| • Land | 360 km2 (140 sq mi) |
| • Water | 9 km2 (3 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 158 km2 (61 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,900 km2 (700 sq mi) |
| Population
(2006 census)
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| • Metropolis | 1,005,904 |
| • Density | 2,726/km2 (7,060/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 1,865,000 |
| • Urban density | 11,800/km2 (30,570/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 2,000,000 |
| • Metro density | 1,050/km2 (2,700/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Portians |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (WAT) |
| Postcode |
500
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| Area code(s) | 084 |
| Climate | Am |
Port Harcourt (Igbo: Iguocha; Pidgin: Po-ta-kot) is the capital and largest city of Rivers State, Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the Niger Delta. As of 2016, the Port Harcourt urban area has an estimated population of 1,865,000 inhabitants, up from 1,382,592 as of 2006.
The area that became Port Harcourt in 1912 was before that part of the farmlands of the Diobu village group of the Igbo ethnicity. The colonial administration of Nigeria created the port to export coal from the collieries of Enugu located 145 miles (233 km) north of Port Harcourt, to which it was linked by a railway called the Eastern Line, also built by the British.
In 1956 crude oil was discovered in commercial quantities at Oloibiri,an Ijaw settlement, and Port Harcourt's economy turned to petroleum when the first shipment of Nigerian crude oil was exported through the city in 1958. Through the benefits of the Nigerian petroleum industry, Port Harcourt was further developed, with aspects of modernization such as overpasses, city blocks, taller and more substantial buildings. Oil firms that currently have offices in the city include Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron.
There are a number of institutions of tertiary education in Port Harcourt, mostly government-owned. These institutions include, Rivers State University, University of Port Harcourt, Kenule Besor Wiwa Polytechnic, Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Ignatius Ajuru University and Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology. The current mayor is Victor Ihunwo. Port Harcourt's primary airport is Port Harcourt International Airport, located on the outskirts of the city; the NAF base is the location of the only other airport and is used by commercial airlines Aero Contractors and Air Nigeria for domestic flights.
Images for kids
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Population density and low elevation coastal zones in the Port Harcourt region. Port Harcourt is especially vulnerable to sea level rise.
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Traffic in the Port Harcourt City Centre
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The Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd, Alesa Eleme.
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See also
In Spanish: Port Harcourt para niños
