Port-au-Prince, city (1995 est. pop. 846,200), capital of Haiti, SW Haiti, on a bay at the end of the Gulf of Gonaïves. The country's chief seaport, it exports mainly coffee and sugar. The city has food-processing plants; soap, textile, and cement industries; and other light manufacturing. It was founded in 1749 by French sugar planters. In 1770, it replaced Cap-Haïtien as capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was then known), and in 1804 it became the capital of newly independent Haiti. Port-au-Prince has remained unsanitary and economically backward, however, and has suffered frequently from earthquakes, fires, and civil warfare. The city is laid out like an amphitheater, with business and commercial quarters along the water and residences on the hills above. Landmarks include the French-built quay (1780), the Univ. of Haiti, the National Palace, the National Museum, and the Basilica of Notre Dame.
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Port-Royal, former abbey of women, c.17 mi (27 km) W of Paris, founded in 1204. It was at first Benedictine, later Cistercian. In 1608 the abbess, Angélique Arnauld (see
Arnauld, family), undertook a reform with the counsel of St. Francis de Sales. The nuns became renowned for piety, and their help was sought all over France for the reform of conventual discipline. In 1626 the abbey was moved to Paris because of the unsalubrious climate; the old buildings were now called Port-Royal-des-Champs [in the country], the new foundation Port-Royal-de-Paris. Under the influence of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the abbey soon became the prime center of Jansenism (see under
Jansen, Cornelis). Port-Royal-des-Champs became a retreat for men, some of whom opened classes there for boys (1638). These, "the little schools," were successful from the start, and many celebrated Frenchmen were educated there. The pedagogy was novel in emphasizing knowledge as a means rather than an end, in using "natural" methods, and in distrusting corporal punishment. The textbooks became famous. The religious tone of the teaching did much to create the Jansenist and antipapal tendencies of 18th-century Roman Catholicism in France. Port-Royal fared as Jansenism did, and persecution became severe toward the end of the 17th cent. Port-Royal-des-Champs was suppressed by papal bull in 1704, and the buildings were razed in 1710. The nuns were expelled from Port-Royal-de-Paris.
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Port-Gentil, city (1993 est. pop. 80,041), W Gabon, a seaport on Cape Lopez Bay (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean). Timber and locally manufactured plywood are exported. Petroleum is produced and refined nearby.
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Port of Spain, city (1990 pop. 50,878), capital of Trinidad and Tobago, on the Gulf of Paria. It is the industrial and commercial center of the country. From 1958 to 1962, Port of Spain was the capital of the dissolved Federation of the West Indies; in 2005 it became the seat of the Caribbean Court of Justice. It is one of the major shipping hubs of the Caribbean, with exports of agricultural products and asphalt. Bauxite from the Guianas and iron ore from Venezuela are transferred there for overseas shipment. The city has attractive public buildings and botanical gardens, and it is a focal point of the tourist trade.
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Port Washington, uninc. town (1990 pop. 15,387), Nassau co., SE N.Y., a suburb of New York City, on the north shore of Long Island and Manhasset Bay. There is extensive manufacturing, much of it reflecting the region's past association with the aircraft and aerospace industries but also including machinery, electronic equipment, and building materials.
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Port Talbot, town (1981 pop. 40,078), Neath Port Talbot, S Wales, at the mouth of the Avon (Afan) River on Swansea Bay. Port Talbot is a popular seaside resort. Nearby are the steelworks at Margam and the oil refinery at Baglan.
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Port Sudan, city (1993 pop. 308,195), NE Sudan, on the Red Sea. The country's major seaport, it handles the bulk of Sudan's foreign trade. The city is also a rail terminus that serves a rich, cotton-growing area of the Nile Valley. Port Sudan has an oil refinery and a pipeline to carry oil to Khartoum, completed in 1977. The city also has an international airport. Construction of a railroad linking the Nile and the Red Sea coast in 1905 led to the founding of Port Sudan as a harbor for the region.
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Port Saint Lucie, city (1990 pop. 55,866), St. Lucie co., central E Fla., on the St. Lucie River; inc. 1961. Fabricated metal products, trailers, printing materials, and processed stone are produced; tourism and telemarketing are also important. A tiny town in the 1960s, it experienced astonishing growth in the late 20th cent., fueled in part by a desire for less expensive housing. The spring training camp of the New York Mets and a PGA school and golf club are there.
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Port Said or Bur Said, city (1986 pop. 469,533), NE Egypt, a port on the Mediterranean Sea at the entrance to the Suez Canal. It is a fueling point for ships using the canal and is the site of the main workshops of the canal administration. Salt is produced in Port Said by evaporating seawater, and there is a fishing industry. The construction of Aswan High Dam in the 1960s cut off the flow of nutrients into the Mediterranean Sea from the delta. This resulted in a lack of food for the sardines that were the basis of the Port Said fishing industry, which has since virtually disappeared. The city is a principal port for steamer service on the Nile. Situated on a narrow peninsula between Lake Manzala and the sea, Port Said was founded in 1859 by the builders of the Suez Canal and named for Said Pasha, then khedive of Egypt. In 1904 a railroad to Cairo was completed. In 1956, French and British paratroops landed at Port Said during the Suez campaign. Port Said came under Israeli attack during the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars. Its harbor was closed to shipping from 1967 to 1975. The city was refurbished in the mid-1970s. New housing was built and a tax-free industrial zone was instituted. There are now electric generation plants and computer and technical manufacturing. The railroad was expanded to link Port Said with other important cities.
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Port Royal Sound, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, between St. Helena and Parris islands to the north and Hilton Head Island to the south, in S S.C.; it receives the Broad River. The sound was named in 1562 by French explorer Jean Ribaut, founder of a short-lived Huguenot settlement on Parris Island. In Nov., 1861, during the Civil War, Union Comdr. Samuel F. Du Pont reduced the forts guarding the sound, and the area remained in Union hands for the rest of the war, becoming a major naval base.
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Port Royal Island: see
Sea Islands.
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Port Royal: see
Annapolis Royal, N.S., Canada.
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Port Republic, village, NW Va., on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. During the Civil War, on June 8-9, 1862, the last battle of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson's successful
Shenandoah valley campaign was fought nearby.
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Port Radium, mining village, N central Northwest Territories, Canada, on Great Bear Lake. The mines were discovered in 1930 and yielded deposits of pitchblende, from which much radium was produced. During World War II the mines were expropriated by the Canadian government when scientists found that these ores contained a rich store of uranium oxide, a source of atomic energy. They were exhausted and closed in 1960.
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Port Pirie, city (1991 pop. 14,110), South Australia, S Australia, on an inlet of Spencer Gulf. It is a railroad center and has uranium refineries and smelting works for the silver-lead mines at Broken Hill. Silver-lead ore and refined lead are exported.
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Port Phillip Bay, large deepwater inlet of Bass Strait, 30 mi (48 km) long and 25 mi (40 km) wide, Victoria, SE Australia. Port Melbourne and Williamstown are on Hobson's Bay, its northern arm.
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Port Neches, city (1990 pop. 12,974), Jefferson co., SE Tex., on the Neches River; inc. 1927. It is an oil-shipping port on the deepwater Sabine-Neches Canal. Synthetic rubber, chemicals, and wood products are produced, and there is oil refining in the city.
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Port Moresby, town (1990 pop. 193,242), capital of Papua New Guinea, on New Guinea island and on the Gulf of Papua. Rubber, gold, and copra are exported. Port Moresby was founded by Capt. John Moresby, who landed there in 1873. The British occupied it in 1883. During World War II the chief Allied base on New Guinea was there. A new capital is being built in suburban Waigani.
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Port Lyautey: see
Kenitra, Morocco.
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Port Louis, city (1996 est. pop. 135,371), capital of Mauritius, NW Mauritius, a port on the Indian Ocean. It is the nation's largest city and its economic and administrative center. Its economy is dominated by its well-sheltered port, which handles Mauritius's international trade; there are extensive facilities for processing and storing sugar, the main export. Port Louis is connected with the interior of the country by railroads and roads and has an international airport. Manufacturing is dominated by garments and textiles, but also includes chemicals, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. Tourism is important, as are high-tech services. Port Louis was founded in 1735 by Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, governor of the French colony on Mauritius (then called Île de France). The population of Port Louis is now largely made up of the descendants of laborers who immigrated from India in the 19th cent. The hill-top Citadel (1838) dominates the city, which is laid out in a rectangular pattern. The Mauritius Institute (1880), which studies the island's flora and fauna and operates a natural history and an art museum, is in Port Louis.
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Port Lavaca, city (1990 pop. 10,886), seat of Calhoun co., S Tex., on Lavaca Bay; inc. 1907. A deepwater port of entry, it is a shipping point for an agricultural (corn, rice, cattle, cotton) area. There are shrimp, crayfish, crab, and fishing industries, as well as related processing. Tourism is significant, and nearby gas and oil wells add to the economy. Concrete, machinery, and chemicals are manufactured in the city.
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Port Kembla, Australia: see
Wollongong.
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Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour, inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 22 sq mi (57 sq km), 12 mi (19 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide at its mouth, New South Wales, Australia, forming Australia's finest harbor. The Parramatta River forms its western arm. Sydney on the south shore is connected with its northern suburbs by Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932), the second longest steel-arch bridge in the world, with an arch span of 1,650 ft (503 m).
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Port Huron, city (1990 pop. 33,694), seat of St. Clair co., S Mich., a natural, deepwater port of entry at the junction of the St. Clair River with Lake Huron; inc. 1857. It is a shipping center with railroad shops and plants that manufacture transportation equipment, building materials, machinery, salt, metal and paper products, chemicals, consumer goods, and electrical equipment. The earliest European settlement began (1686) with the French fort St. Joseph. The town grew after the building (1826) of Fort Gratiot Turnpike (between Port Huron and Detroit), ushering in a lumbering era. Local deposits of salt, oil, and natural gas were developed. Port Huron is connected by a railway tunnel and an international bridge with Sarnia, Ont. The old Fort Gratiot lighthouse marks the St. Clair straits off Port Huron. Thomas
Edison grew up in the city.
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Port Hueneme, city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. Other industries include metal fabrication, flowers, and nursery products. A notable Seabee museum is there. Nearby are Point Mugu Naval Air Station and many parks and recreation areas.
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Port Hope, town (1991 pop. 11,505), SE Ont., Canada, on Lake Ontario, E of Toronto. It has a large plant for refining uranium ore and is a summer resort.
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Port Harcourt, 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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Port Glasgow, town (1991 pop. 22,636), Inverclyde, W Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde. Its dry dock, built in 1762, was one of the first of its kind in Scotland. It was founded in 1668 as a port for Glasgow, before the city had been made accessible to large ships. Port Glasgow became its own town in 1775. There are shipbuilding plants and textile, rope, and canvas factories. For a time, Port Glasgow held a leading place in Clyde sea traffic. The ruins of 16th-century Newark Castle are preserved among the Clydeside docks.
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Port Elizabeth, city (1991 pop. 670,653), Eastern Cape, SE South Africa, on
Algoa Bay, an arm of the Indian Ocean. It is a tourist center and a major seaport that ships diamonds, wool, fruit, and other items. Automobile assembly is the chief industry; shoe manufacturing, metal and timber processing, and electrical engineering are also important. There is some food processing, tanning, and chemical production. Port Elizabeth was founded the British in 1820 near Fort Frederick (1799; now a monument). The city grew rapidly after 1873, when a railroad to Kimberley began. The Univ. of Port Elizabeth (1964) and a technical college (1925) are in the city. A national park is nearby.
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Port Darwin: see
Darwin, Australia.
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Port Colborne, town (1991 pop. 18,766), S Ont., Canada, on Lake Erie, at the south end of the Welland Ship Canal. It is an important transshipment center between Montreal and points to the west. It has a nickel refinery, grain elevators, and a cement plant.
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Port Chester, village (1990 pop. 24,728), Westchester co., SE N.Y., a suburb of New York City, on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Byram River, and on the Conn. border; settled after 1660, inc. 1868. Primarily residential, it produces some household goods. Gen. Israel Putnam had his headquarters there in 1777-78. Several colonial homes remain.
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Port Charlotte, uninc. town (1990 pop. 41,535), Charlotte co., SW Fla., on Charlotte Harbor (an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico) and the Peace and Myakka rivers. It is a planned residential community—one of several on a peninsula once owned by the Vanderbilt family. The area, formerly cattle pasture land, is now popular with retirees and vacationers. Port Charlotte has 145 mi (233 km) of artificial waterways, many with access to the Gulf of Mexico; 38 mi (61 km) of natural shoreline; and 42 bridges. The Cultural Center of Charlotte County and the Florida Bat Center are there. The population increased significantly in the late 20th cent., and the town suffered significant damage from Hurricane Charley in 2004.
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Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, self-sustaining public corporation established in 1921 by the states of New York and New Jersey to administer the activities of the New York-New Jersey port area, which has a waterfront of c.900 mi (1,450 km) lying in both states. In 1917 the governors of New York and New Jersey appointed a bistate commission to study the problem of coordinating port and harbor development for the two states as a whole in an attempt to resolve the many disputes between the states concerning such matters as boundaries, marine police jurisdiction, and freight rates. Out of this group's recommendations grew the idea for the authority, and in 1921 a compact was signed (the Port Compact) that defined a single Port District and provided for its administration by a Port Authority that was to coordinate terminal, transportation, and other facilities of commerce. Originally called the Port of New York Authority, the name was changed in 1972 to reflect the joint administration of the port.
The authority consists of 12 unsalaried commissioners, 6 appointed by the governor of each state. Since the commissioners constitute agents of the state, their instructions take the form of legislative mandates. The work of the commissioners, in addition to administration, includes development, construction, operation, and protection of the Port District. The authority finances its activities from income such as tolls and charges and by selling revenue bonds in the public market.
The authority has been so successful that it has set a pattern in administration. It has given to the inhabitants of the Port District a modern and efficient network of bridges, tunnels, and terminal facilities without adding to the burden of the New York or New Jersey taxpayers. Among its projects have been the refinancing of the Holland Tunnel and the construction of the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, marine terminals in Newark and Elizabeth, and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson RR, known as PATH. The agency also administers numerous facilities, including the New York City airports and Newark International Airport, and built the former World Trade Center complex.
Although business in the New York and New Jersey harbors suffered during the 1970s and 80s from the overall decrease in U.S. exports and the loss of customers to competitors in the South and in Canada, by 1985 the volume of exports in containerized cargo began to rise steadily as a result of the authority's commitment to investing in new technology and its shift to a more agressive business and marketing policy that included improved relationships with the government and with shipping and manufacturing companies.
See J. W. Doig, Empire on the Hudson (2001).
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Port Augusta, city (1991 pop. 14,595), South Australia, S Australia, at the head of Spencer Gulf. It is a railroad center.
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Port Arthur: see
Thunder Bay, Ont., Canada.
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Port Arthur: see
Lüshun, China.
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Port Arthur, city (1990 pop. 58,724), Jefferson co., SE Tex., on Sabine Lake; inc. 1898. A deepwater port of entry on the Sabine-Neches Canal, it is an extensive oil port, with many large refineries, chemical plants, and oil rigs and ships. There is natural-gas processing, printing and publishing, and the manufacture of building materials and metal products. Agricultural products include rice, soybeans, and cattle. The Sabine region had already been visited and settled, and livestock and rice had been raised, before Arthur E. Stilwell decided (1894) to found a railroad terminus there. American financier and promoter John Warne
Gates (Bet-a-Million Gates) also contributed to the early growth of the city. A ship channel was completed in 1899. Port Arthur boomed after the discovery (1901) of oil at Spindletop. The city holds an annual event recognizing the oil industry.
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Port Angeles, city (1990 pop. 17,710), seat of Clallam co., NW Wash., on Juan de Fuca Strait opposite Victoria, British Columbia; inc. 1890. A port of entry with a good harbor, Port Angeles is a boating and fishing center, with ferry service to Victoria. There is logging and the manufacture of wood products and transportation equipment; many pulp and paper mills are in the area. The city is also a resort and the headquarters for Olympic National Park (see
National Parks and Monuments, table). A U.S. Coast Guard air rescue station is there, and the Lower Elwha Indian Reservation is to the northwest.
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Port Alberni, city (1991 pop. 18,403), SW British Columbia, Canada, on Vancouver Island, at the head of Alberni Canal and Barkley sound. It is a fishing port with one of the largest forestry complexes in the world.
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Port Adelaide, city (1996 pop. 37,559), South Australia, S Australia, a suburb of Adelaide, on an inlet of Gulf St. Vincent. It is the principal port and wool-trading center of the state. The chief exports are wheat, flour, and wool. Sulfuric acid, processed foods, and automobile parts are made.
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Nowy Port: see
Gdańsk, Poland.
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Hunter, Port, or
Newcastle Harbour, estuary of the Hunter River, New South Wales, Australia. It is 3 mi (4.8 km) long and 2 mi (3.2 km) wide. The coal-loading port of
Newcastle, one of the largest ports in the state, is on the southern shore near the entrance.
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Ellesmere Port, town and district (1991 pop. 78,800), Cheshire, W central England. Ellesmere Port, located on the Manchester Ship Canal near its junction with the Shropshire Union Canal and the entrance into the Mersey estuary, is the principal town of the district. It is an important oil-refining and distribution center for imported commodities such as iron ore and grain. It also has dye works, auto manufacturing, and various light industries. Located within the district, Neston and Parkgate are large residential communities.
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Boston Port Bill: see
Intolerable Acts.
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Sweet, fortified wine of rich taste and aroma made in Portugal. The name derives from Porto, the town where it is traditionally aged and bottled. Most port is red, but lesser amounts of tawny and white are produced. Peculiar to the manufacture of port is a large dose of brandy given to the still-fermenting liquid (called must). Much time, often decades, is needed for the maturing of fine ports.
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Area within which goods may be landed, handled, and re-exported freely. The purpose is to remove obstacles to trade and to permit quick turnaround of ships and planes. Only when the goods are moved to consumers within the country in which the zone is located do they become subject to tariffs and customs regulation. Free-trade zones are found around major seaports, international airports, and national frontiers; there are more than 200 such zones in the U.S. alone.
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City (metro. area pop., 1997: 1,556,000), seaport, and capital of Haiti, West Indies, on the southeastern shore of the Golfe de la Gonâve. Founded by the French in 1749, it was destroyed by earthquakes in 1751 and 1770 and has frequently suffered from fires and civil strife. In 1807 the port was opened to foreign commerce. It is the country's principal port and commercial centre, producing sugar, flour, cottonseed oil, and textiles.
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City (pop., 1996 est.: 43,396), seaport, and capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Formerly the capital of the West Indies Federation, it is located in the northwestern part of the island of Trinidad on the Gulf of Paria. It is an air transport centre for the Caribbean and has a diversified economy, producing rum, beer, and lumber. It is also a principal port and shipping centre; exports include oil, sugar, citrus, and asphalt.
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Seaport city (pop., 2006: 570,603), northeastern Egypt. It is on the Mediterranean Sea at the northern end of the Suez Canal. It was founded in 1859 on a narrow sandy strip separating the Mediterranean from Lake Manzilah and became the world's most important coaling station. It was the landing point of French and British troops during the Suez Crisis (1956) that followed Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israeli forces occupied the eastern bank of the canal, which was closed until 1975. The city was revitalized after 1975, and its industries include textiles, clothing, cosmetics, and glass.
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City (pop., 2000: 254,158), capital of Papua New Guinea, on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of Papua. Its large, sheltered harbour was explored by British Capt. John Moresby in 1873. The British annexed the area in 1883–84. The town became a main Allied base in World War II. The National Capital District, established in 1974, includes all of Port Moresby; it became the capital when Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975. A commercial centre, the city is also the site of a university.
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City (pop., 2003 est.: 147,688), capital, and main port of Mauritius. It was founded circa 1736 by the French as a port for ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope to and from Asia and Europe. With the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the city's importance declined. It is the principal commercial centre of the island of Mauritius; its primary exports are textiles and sugar. Manufacturing and service industries, including tourism, are also based in the city. Aapravasi Ghat, an immigration depot used from 1849 to 1923 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006, is located there.
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Inlet of the South Pacific Ocean, New South Wales, southeastern Australia. It is one of the world's finest natural harbours. It was sighted in 1770 by Capt. James Cook. Its entrance is between North and South Heads, where naval and military stations are located. Sydney is on its southern shore and the northern suburbs of Sydney are on its northern shore; the shores are joined by the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was built in 1932.
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City (pop., 2001: 99,984), capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India, in the Bay of Bengal. It was occupied by the British in 1789 but soon abandoned. The town was made a penal colony in 1858. It was occupied by the Japanese in 1942–45. The penal colony was abolished in 1945. The city was damaged by an earthquake-generated tsunami in 2004. Port Blair, a market town and tourist destination, has several local museums and an airport.
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City (pop., 2001: 109,016), west-central Ontario, Canada. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Superior. Its first settlement was a French fur-trading post circa 1678. In the 1870s and '80s silver strikes and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought prosperity to the twin towns of Port Arthur and Fort William that had grown up there. Their rivalry was resolved with the unification of their harbour facilities in 1906; the towns merged in 1970 and created the city of Thunder Bay. It is one of Canada's busiest ports, with grain storage and transshipment depots; other industries include shipbuilding.
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