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Harbor

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A harbor (American English) or harbour (Commonwealth English) is a sheltered part of a body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored.

Port of Jebel Ali, which has the largest artificial harbor in the world.
A panoramic view of Carry-le-Rouet harbour in France, showing rows of docked boats and yachts surrounded by seaside buildings and palm-lined streets under a clear sky.
Carry Le Rouet harbor in France.
Montevideo's natural harbor is clearly seen from above.
Capri harbor, Italy seen from Anacapri
Koyilandy Harbour, Kerala, India

The term harbor is often used interchangeably with port, however port refers specifically to the facilities for loading and unloading ships, as opposed to just a sheltered area of water. For example, Alexandria Port in Egypt is a port with two harbors.

Harbors may be natural or artificial. An artificial harbor can have breakwaters, sea walls, or jetties, or they can be constructed by dredging, which requires maintenance by further periodic dredging. An example of an artificial harbor is Long Beach Harbor, California, United States, which was previously an array of salt marshes and tidal flats too shallow for modern merchant ships before it was first dredged in the early 20th century.[1] In contrast, a natural harbor is surrounded on several sides by naturally-occurring land. Examples of natural harbors include Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Trincomalee Harbour in Sri Lanka.

Artificial harbors

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Artificial harbors are frequently built for use as ports. The oldest artificial harbor known is the Ancient Egyptian site at Wadi al-Jarf, on the Red Sea coast, which is at least 4500 years old (ca. 2600–2550 BCE, reign of King Khufu). The largest artificially created harbor is Jebel Ali in Dubai.[2] Other large and busy artificial harbors include:

The Ancient Carthaginians constructed fortified, artificial harbors called cothons.

Natural harbors

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Tanjung Perak is a famous example of a natural harbor in Indonesia. The harbor location in Madura Strait.

A natural harbor is a landform where a section of a body of water is protected and deep enough to allow anchorage. Many such harbors are rias. Natural harbors have long been of great strategic naval and economic importance, and many great cities of the world are located on them. Having a protected harbor reduces or eliminates the need for breakwaters as it will result in calmer waves inside the harbor. Some examples are:

Ice-free harbors

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For harbors near the North and South poles, being ice-free is an important advantage, especially when it is year-round. Examples of these are:

The world's southernmost harbor, located at Antarctica's Winter Quarters Bay (77° 50′ South), is sometimes ice-free, depending on the summertime pack ice conditions.[3]

Important harbors

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The harbor of Piraeus in Greece
Port Jackson, Sydney
The harbor of Gorey, Jersey falls dry at low tide.
Punta del Este's harbor – nicknamed the Monte Carlo of South America[4][5][6]
The harbor in Aberystwyth, painted c. 1850

Although the world's busiest port is a contested title, in 2017 the world's busiest harbor by cargo tonnage was the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan.[7]

The following are large natural harbors:

Port of Szczecin, Poland
Valparaíso, Chile

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ "Geology 303 Ch 8 Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors". Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Hattendorf, John B. (2007), The Oxford encyclopedia of maritime history, Oxford University Press, p. 590, ISBN 978-0-19-513075-1
  3. ↑ U.S. Polar Programs Archived 11 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine National Science Foundation FY2000.
  4. ↑ "Circuit Guide | Punta del Este, Uruguay". FIA Formula E. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  5. ↑ "Formula E reveals circuit for Punta del Este ePrix". FIA Formula E. 20 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Formula E unveils Punta del Este circuit in Uruguay". autosport.com. 20 June 2014. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2017)". Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
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