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Port Harcourt[hAr´kurt, –kOrt] Pronunciation Key, city (1991 est. pop. 362,000), SE Nigeria, a deepwater port on the Bonny River in the Niger delta. It is an industrial and commercial center where steel and aluminum products, pressed concrete, glass, tires, paint, footwear, furniture, and cigarettes are manufactured and bicycles and motor vehicles are assembled. Port Harcourt, the operational headquarters of the Nigerian petroleum industry, refines oil and pipes it mostly to Bonny for export. Palm oil and kernels, cacao, coal, tin, and peanuts are Port Harcourt's chief exports. The city is also a rail terminus and has an airport. Port Harcourt was founded by the British in 1912 and named for Lewis, Viscount Harcourt, secretary of state for the colonies (1910–15).
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