A harbor, or harbour, is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term harbor is often used interchangeably with port, which is a man-made facility built for loading and unloading vessels and dropping off and picking up passengers. Harbors usually include one or more ports. Alexandria Port in Egypt is an example of a harbor with two ports.
New York Harbor and the Hudson River in the foreground; the East River in the background.
Capri harbor, Italy seen from Anacapri
Koyilandy Harbour, Kerala, India
The tiny harbor at the village of Clovelly, Devon, England
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.
The Port of New York and New Jersey grew from the original harbor at the convergence of the Hudson River and the East River at the Upper New York Bay.
An Evergreen ship loading at Container Terminal Altenwerder, port of Hamburg, Germany
A ship pumping bilge water into a harbor