Port Harcourt
Metropolis
Port Harcourt
Seal
Nickname(s):  PH-City, P.H.[1] and Garden City[2][3]
Port Harcourt Map of Nigeria showing the location of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Ralph Moore, Chief Oju Daniel Kalio and William Harcourt signed the 1913 agreement for the area now known as Port Harcourt.
Coordinates: 4°49′27″N 7°2′1″E / 4.82417°N 7.03361°E / 4.82417; 7.03361
Country	Nigeria
State	Rivers
LGA(s)	Port Harcourt Obio-Akpor Okrika Eleme
Founded	1912
Incorporation	1913[3]
Named for	Lewis Vernon Harcourt
Government
• Type	Mayor–Council
• Body	Port Harcourt City Council
• Mayor	Allwell Ihunda[4]
Area [5][6]
• 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)[8][9]
• Metropolis	1,005,904
• Estimate  (2019)	1,148,665
• Density	2,700/km2 (7,100/sq mi)
• Urban	1,865,000
• Urban density	12,000/km2 (31,000/sq mi)
• Metro	2,344,000.[7]
Demonym	Portians[10]
GDP (PPP, constant 2015 values)
• Year	2023
• Total	$34.4 billion[11]
• Per capita	$9,900
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)
Postcode	500[12]
Area code(s)	084[13]
Climate	Am

Port Harcourt (Pidgin: Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa) is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria.^[14] It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin.^[15][16] It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the oil rich Niger Delta. As of 2023, Port Harcourt's urban population is estimated at 3,480,000.^[17] The population of the metropolitan area of Port Harcourt is almost twice its urban area population with a 2015 United Nations estimate of 2,344,000.^[7] In 1950, the population of Port Harcourt was 59,752. Port Harcourt has grown by 150,844 since 2015, which represents a 4.99% annual change.^[18]

The area that became Port Harcourt in 1912 was before that of a farmland of people of Rebisi (Ikwerre). The colonial administration of Nigeria created the port to export coal from the collieries of Enugu located 243 kilometres (151 mi) north of Port Harcourt,^[19] to which it was linked by a railway called the Eastern Line, also built by the British.^[2][19][20]

Port Harcourt's economy turned to petroleum^[21] when the first shipment of Nigerian crude oil was exported through the city in 1958.^[22] Through the benefits of the Nigerian petroleum industry, Port Harcourt was further developed, with aspects of modernization such as overpasses, city blocks, and taller and more substantial buildings.^[3] Oil firms that currently have offices in the city include Shell and Chevron.^[23]

There are a number of public and private tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt. These institutions include Rivers State University, University of Port Harcourt, Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic, Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Ignatius Ajuru University, Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology, Madonna University, PAMO University of Medical Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria. 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.^[24]

Etymology

The port was built in 1912, but not given a name until August 1913, when the then Governor of Nigeria, Sir Frederick Lugard, named it "Port Harcourt" in honor of Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt,^[25] then the Secretary of State for the Colonies.^[26] The Okrika word for the city is Hakoti Kiri or Parakot. The native Obulom name for the city is Obomotu, lit. 'Big House'.

History

Port Harcourt was founded in 1912 by Frederick Lugard, governor of both the Northern Nigeria Protectorate and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate.^[27][28] Its purpose was to export the coal that geologist Albert Ernest Kitson had discovered in Enugu in 1909.^[29] The colonial government caused the people of Diobu to cede their land, and in 1912 the building of a port-town was started.^[30] Other villages that were later absorbed into the city included Oroworukwo, Oromeruezimgbu, Nkpogu, and Rumuomasi;^[31][32][33] In the creeks to the south of the original port were the fishing camps and grounds of the Wakirike-Ijaw group.^[26]

During the First World War, Port Harcourt was used as a point for military operations against the Central Powers in German Kamerun.^[3][34] After the discovery of crude oil in Oloibiri in 1956, Port Harcourt exported the first shipload from Nigeria in 1958. Port Harcourt became the center of the Nigerian oil economy^[35] and it subsequently reaped benefits of its associations with the petroleum industry by undergoing modernization and urbanization.^[3] Port Harcourt's growth is further due to its position as the commercial center and foremost industrial city of the former Eastern Region; its position in the Niger Delta; and its importance as the center of social and economic life in Rivers State. After the Republic of Biafra seceded from Nigeria in 1967 Port Harcourt fell to Nigerian forces on 19 May 1968. From an area of 15.54 km² (6.00 sq mi) in 1914, Port Harcourt grew uncontrolled to an area of 360 km² (140 sq mi) in the 1980s.^[36]

Geography

The main city of Port Harcourt is the Port Harcourt City in the Port Harcourt local government area, consisting of the former European quarters now called Old GRA and New Layout areas. The urban area (Port Harcourt metropolis), on the other hand, is made up of the local government area itself and parts of Obio-Akpor and Eleme accordingly.^[37] Port Harcourt, which is the current capital of Rivers State, is highly congested as it is the only major city of the state. In 2009, a law was passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly and governor Amaechi's administration to spread development to the surrounding communities as part of the effort to decongest the Port Harcourt metropolis. The Greater Port Harcourt region, spans eight local government areas that include Port Harcourt, Okrika, Obio-Akpor, Ikwerre, Oyigbo, Ogu–Bolo, Etche and Eleme. Its total population was estimated at 2,000,000 as of 2009, making it one of the largest metropolitan areas in Nigeria. But that number has greatly increased according to recent studies.^[38]

Location

Climate

Port Harcourt features a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen: Am) with lengthy and heavy rainy seasons and very short dry seasons. Only the months of December to February truly qualifies as dry season months in the city. The harmattan, which climatically influences many cities in West Africa, is less pronounced in Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt's heaviest precipitation occurs during September with an average of 367 millimetres or 14.45 inches of rain. December on average is the driest month of the year, with an average rainfall of 20 millimetres or 0.79 inches. Temperatures throughout the year in the city are relatively constant, showing little variation throughout the course of the year. Average temperatures are typically between 25 and 28 °C (77.0 and 82.4 °F) in the city.

Environmental concerns

Air Pollution

Residents of the city have been experiencing particle (soot) pollution since the last quarter of 2016.^[41] Residents state their clothes and everything outside is covered with a layer of black soot.^[42] Official PM2.5 information from the state's environmental commissioner, Roseline Konya, states a high reading of 270 micrograms per cubic meter for air pollution in the city from a 2016 sampling.^[43] According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) index air quality index (AQI), a reading of 0 – 50 is good, readings between 200 – 300 which Port Harcourt falls under is considered unhealthy for everyone and E.P.A advises residents of such areas to avoid heavy and prolonged exertion, and move activities indoors.^[44] "For a 15-month period ending in June ... air quality was in the unhealthy range on 240 days, with 85 days ranking very unhealthy, and 13 days as hazardous."^[43]

The increased deterioration of ambient air quality led to a state protest in February 2017. There were experiences of black soot settling in nostrils, on cars, floors, roofs, windows, bathtubs, bathroom, kitchen sinks and household furniture surfaces resulting in frequent cleaning of affected surfaces and places. potable, domestic and rainwater were equally affected. Abuloma, Iwofe, Rupokwu, Okrika, and Woji were mostly affected with other areas such as Rumuigbo, Eleme, and Oyigbo Local Government Councils, as well as Ogoni.^[41][45]

The covering of the haze of soot in most parts of the city have resulted in visibility impairment by PM2.5, soil, and water deposition, and disruption in ecosystem diversity. This also made the city dwellers to spend more time indoors than outdoors. Residents in cities such as Rumosi and Rumuodumanya in Obio/Akpor Council have relocated to other safe cities leading to decline in business activities.^[41][46]

The Ministry of Environment took action by analysing air samples from various sites in the city and found out to be 11 times higher than WHO specifications for PM2.5 and PM10. This non-compliance was tackled by shutting down the Chinese Government Company (CGC), H&H Engineering Company, and AUC Asphalt Company located in Aluu community, found to be the location of high volume discharge of emissions thereby contravening environmental regulations. Illegal refineries, burning of tires, gas flaring, liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations and processes, petro-chemical companies, and refineries were other suspected sources of soot pollution.^[41][45]

Residential areas

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Port_Harcourt,_Nigeria
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