Port Harcourt is the capital city of Rivers State, Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River and is located in the Niger Delta. The population of Port Harcourt is estimated at 1,620,214 (2007), the port harcourt Urban area is 2.7 million while the Greater Port Harcourt Area is almost 3.7 million in population.
The main city of Port Harcourt is the Port Harcourt town in the Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, consisting of the former European quarters now called old Government reservation area (GRA) and New layout areas. The Port Harcourt Urban Area (Port Harcourt metropolis) is made up of the city itself and parts of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. Important neighbouring towns of Port Harcourt are Diobu which is a Rebisi settlement, Abuloma which is an Okrika settlement, Isaka which is an Okrika settlement, Woji which is an Ikwere settlement, Alesa Eleme which is an Ogoni settlement and many other Ikwere clans. All these settlements today are now collectively known as Greater Port Harcourt.
Some of Port Harcourt's more popular and well-known residential areas are Port Harcourt Township; better known simply as "Town", G.R.A phases 1-5, Abuloma, Amadi-ama, Amadi Flats, and Borokiri. The main industrial area is located in Trans Amadi.
The city plays host to the Rivers State Unıversıty of Science and Technology; there is also a University of Port Harcourt, which interestingly is not within the actual confines of the city.
The Podium Block of Rivers State Secretariat is an icon of the city. An eighteen storey building, it has the tallest building in the South/South and South/East Geopolitical zones combined. The city has an international airport, Port Harcourt International Airport, two seaports (F.O.T Onne, PortHarcourt Wharf), two stadiums (Sharks Stadium and Liberation Stadium) and two refineries.
The city is sprawling in nature as building codes and zoning regulations are poorly enforced. Land is cleared and 'lean to' buildings constructed sometimes overnight. This adds to flooding and sanitation problems since with no proper drainage or sewer system, parts of the city flood during the very heavy monsoon-type rains that fall for half the year. |
