A harbor (

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

), harbour (

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered

body of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such a ...

where

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

s, and

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''

port 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 H ...

'', which is a man-made facility built for loading and unloading vessels and dropping off and picking up passengers. Ports usually include one or more harbors. Alexandria Port in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

is an example of a port with two harbors. Harbors may be natural or artificial. An artificial harbor can have deliberately constructed

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

sea wall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservatio ...

s, or jettys 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 an array of salt marshes and tidal flats too shallow for modern merchant ships before it was first dredged in the early 20th century. In contrast, a natural harbor is surrounded on several sides of land. Examples of natural harbors include Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia and Trincomalee Harbour in Sri Lanka.

History

As a rule, the harbor is called the water area of the port, directly adjacent to the Berth (moorings), berth am, where the loading and unloading of ships, embarkation and disembarkation of passengers are carried out. Also in the harbor, ships can be at a long anchorage at the pier or at anchor. For this purpose, special places for Anchorage (maritime), anchorage will be equipped on the territory of the harbor. The harbor can be artificial or natural. For a natural harbor, choose a place well protected from waves and wind, surrounded on several sides by land areas.'' Stanyukovich, Konstantin Mikhailovich, Stanyukovich KM '' s: Dictionary of marine terms found in stories (Stanyukovich), Dictionary of marine terms found in stories. An artificial harbor usually has purpose-built Breakwater (structure), breakwaters, and dredging is also used in the construction of artificial harbors. Natural harbors require maintenance through periodic depth measurements and, if necessary, further periodic dredging. An example of an artificial harbor is Long Beach Harbor, California, USA, which was an array of salt marshes and tidal banks too shallow for modern merchant ships. At the beginning of the 20th century, dredging works were carried out here.

Artificial harbors

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. Other large and busy artificial harbors include: * Port of Houston, Texas, United States; * Port of Long Beach, California, United States; * Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro, California, United States. * Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands; * Port of Savannah, Georgia (US State), Georgia, United States; The Ancient Carthaginians constructed fortified, artificial harbors called cothons.

Natural harbors

ANTARA FOTO-Eric Ireng TERMINAL PETIKEMAS SURABAYA

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 military strategy, 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: * Bali Strait, Indonesia * Berehaven Harbour, Ireland * Balikpapan Bay in East Kalimantan, Indonesia * Mumbai in Maharashtra, India * Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, United States * Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada * Cork Harbour, Cork Harbour, Ireland * Grand Harbour, Malta * Guantánamo Bay, Cuba * Gulf of Paria, Trinidad and Tobago * Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada * Hamilton Harbour in Ontario, Canada * Killybegs in County Donegal, Ireland * Kingston Harbour, Jamaica * Marsamxett Harbour, Malta * Milford Haven Waterway, Milford Haven in Wales, United Kingdom * New York Harbor in the United States * Pago Pago Harbor in American Samoa * Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, United States * Poole Harbour in England, United Kingdom * Port Hercules, Monaco, Principality of Monaco * Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour in Australia, technically a ria * Port of Tanjung Perak, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Indonesia * Port of Tobruk in Tobruk, Libya * Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania, United States * Prince William Sound in Alaska, United States * Puget Sound in Washington (state), Washington state, United States * Roadstead of Brest in Brittany, France * San Francisco Bay in California, United States * Scapa Flow in Scotland, United Kingdom * Sept-Îles, Quebec, Sept-Îles in Côte-Nord, in Quebec, Canada * Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Shelburne in Nova Scotia, Canada * Subic Bay in Zambales, Philippines * Tampa Bay in Florida, United States * Trincomalee Harbour, Sri Lanka * Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, India * Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong * Visakhapatnam Port, Visakhapatnam Harbour, India * Vizhinjam in Trivandrum, India * Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand * Zihuatanejo#The port, Zihuatanejo Harbor, Mexico

Ice-free harbors

For harbors near the geographical pole, North and South poles, being ice-free is an important advantage, especially when it is year-round. Examples of these are: *Hammerfest (town), Hammerfest, Norway *Liinakhamari, Russia *Murmansk, Russia *Nakhodka in Nakhodka Bay, Russia *Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Pechenga, Russia *Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Prince Rupert, Canada *Valdez, Alaska, Valdez, United States *Vardø (town), Vardø, Norway *Vostochny Port, Russia 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.

Important harbors

Although the world's busiest port is a contested title, in 2017 the List of world's busiest ports by cargo tonnage, world's busiest harbor by cargo tonnage was the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan. The following are large natural harbors: Mk Stettin Hafen2

Notes

External links

Harbor Maintenance Finance and Funding
Congressional Research Service * {{Ports and harbors Ports and harbours, Coastal construction Nautical terminology Bodies of water Infrastructure Industrial buildings it:Porto tt:Лиман