Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is the seat of the

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (; ) is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape province and comprises the city of Gqeberha, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and De ...

, South Africa's second-smallest metropolitan municipality by area. It is the sixth-most populous city in South Africa and is the cultural, economic and financial hub of the Eastern Cape. Gqeberha was founded in 1820 as Port Elizabeth by Sir Rufane Donkin, who was the governor of the Cape at the time. He named it after his wife, Elizabeth, who had died in India. The

Donkin Memorial The Donkin Memorial is a four-sided stone pyramid located in the Donkin Reserve, central Gqeberha, South Africa. It was constructed at the behest of Sir Rufane Donkin (acting governor of the Cape 1820–1821) in memory of his wife Elizabeth Donki ...

in the CBD of the city bears testament to this. It was established by the government of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

when 4,000 British colonists settled in

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located on the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour ...

to strengthen the border region between the

and the

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

. It is nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City". In 2019, the Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee recommended that Port Elizabeth be renamed Gqeberha, after the Xhosa and Southern Khoe name for the

Baakens River The Baakens River, also known as Gqeberha River (), is a river that empties at Port Elizabeth's city centre and harbour in Algoa Bay. Bakensriviersa Geonames.org (cc-by) post updated 18 January 2012; database download sa 28 February 2017 The r ...

that flows through the city. The city's name change was officially gazetted on 23 February 2021. Located on the western portion of

along the southeastern coast of South Africa, the city lies 770km east of Cape Town. It is east of the

Garden Route The Garden Route (Afrikaans: ''Tuinroete'') is a stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant ...

and faces the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. It covers 251 square kilometers of the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area, and is administered by South Africa's sixth-largest metropolitan municipality. The city's warm

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

ranks it among the top cities in the world for pleasant year-round weather. The city is known for many blue-flag beaches along the city's urban coastline; its popularity as an international and local holiday destination; and its rich and diverse cultural heritage. It is a gateway city for the Eastern Cape's adventure, outdoor and African big five game safari tourism.

Etymology

Gqeberha, the city's official name since 23 February 2021, is a

word for the

Baakens river The Baakens River, also known as Gqeberha River (), is a river that empties at Port Elizabeth's city centre and harbour in Algoa Bay. Bakensriviersa Geonames.org (cc-by) post updated 18 January 2012; database download sa 28 February 2017 The r ...

, which flows through the city. In 1820, the rising seaport of

was named "Port Elizabeth" in memory of Elizabeth Frances (), the wife of Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, acting Governor of the

. The settlement is also known by

speakers as or , a Xhosa adaptation of the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

name , meaning "the Bay", which was also translated and adopted by English-speaking colonists.

History

Prehistory

Cave sites in the area, such as Albany, Wilton and

Howieson's Poort Howiesons Poort (also called HP) is a technological and cultural period characterized by material evidence with shared design features found in South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia. It was named after the Howieson's Poort Shelter archaeological site ...

, have given their names to various archaeological cultures. The Howieson's Poort site has been of particular interest to interpretations about the origins of fully modern human behaviour. Dating to 65,000 to 62,000years ago, it has yielded extremely old evidence for bow-and-arrow hunting and shell-bead jewellery. Earlier and Middle Stone Age lithic material has been found in the Sundays River Valley, while at the important site of Amanzi Springs, 40km north of Gqeberha near Addo, Earlier Stone Age artefacts are found ''in situ'' with well-preserved plant and faunal remains within spring sediments (Deacon, 1970). There is Later Stone Age archaeological material preserved in caves and rock shelters, such as

Melkhoutboom Cave Melkhoutboom Cave is an archaeological site dating to the Later Stone Age, located in the Zuurberg Mountains, Cape Folded Mountain Belt, in the Addo Elephant National Park, Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of ...

, in the Cape Fold Mountain Belt surrounding Gqeberha (see Deacon and Deacon, 1963; Deacon, 1976; Binneman, 1997) and large numbers of coastal shell middens have been reported at Humewood, St Georges Strand and the Coega River Mouth (Rudner, 1968). Most recently, Binneman and Webley (1997) reported thirteen shell middens and stone tool scatters about 500m east of the Coega River mouth in the archaeological assessment carried out for the development of maritime infrastructure for the

Port of Ngqura The Port of Ngqura is a deepwater port on the east coast (Indian Ocean) of South Africa, 20 km northeast of Gqeberha. It was authorised by an act of parliament in 2002, construction started in September 2002 and the port became operational i ...

. Importantly, some of this archaeological material was recorded in secondary context in the gravels from older river terraces along the banks of the Coega River.

Early history

Hunters and gatherers ancestral to the San first settled the area around what is now called Algoa Bay at least 10,000 years ago. Around 2,000 years ago, they were gradually assimilated by agriculturalist populations ancestral to the

Xhosa people The Xhosa people ( , ; ) are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group that migrated over centuries into Southern Africa eventually settling in South Africa. They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the Xho ...

British settlement

The first Europeans to visit the area sailed with the Portuguese explorers Bartholomeu Dias, who landed on St Croix Island in Algoa Bay in 1488, and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

, who noted the nearby Bird Island in 1497. For centuries, the area appeared on European navigation charts marked simply as "a landing place with fresh water". The area later became part of the

. This area had a turbulent

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

between the settlement by the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

in 1652 and the formation of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

in 1910.

In 1799, at the time of the first British occupation of the Colony during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, British troops built a stone fort named Fort Frederick after the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

. This fort, aiming to deter a possible landing of French troops, was constructed to oversee the site of what later became Port Elizabeth. The fort is now preserved as a monument. From 1814 to 1821, the Strandfontein farm to the south of the Gqeberha River was owned by

Piet Retief Pieter Mauritz Retief (12 November 1780 – 6 February 1838) was a '' Voortrekker'' leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he later assumed command of punitive expeditions during the sixth Xhosa War. He became a s ...

. He later became a

Voortrekker The Great Trek (, ) was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...

leader and was killed in 1837 by Zulu king

Dingane Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu (–29 January 1840), commonly referred to as Dingane, Dingarn or Dingaan, was a Zulu prince who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828, after assassinating his half-brother Shaka Zulu. He set up his royal capita ...

during negotiations about land. An estimated 500 men, woman and children of his party were killed. Frederik Korsten, after whom the suburb of Korsten is named, owned the Strandfontein farm after Retief. This area was later developed as Summerstrand, a beachfront suburb. In 1820, a party of 4,000

British settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

arrived by sea, encouraged by the government of the Cape Colony to form a settlement to strengthen the border region between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa people. At this time the seaport town was founded by Sir

Rufane Shaw Donkin Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin (17721 May 1841), was a British Army officer of the Napoleonic era and later Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. Background Rufane Donkin c ...

, the Acting

Governor of the Cape Colony This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (p ...

(in office from 1820 to 1821). Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited Gqeberha in the early 1830s. Roberts noted that Gqeberha in the 1820s had "contained four houses, and now it has upward of one hundred houses, and its residents are rated at above twelve hundred persons". The British garrison of Gqeberha saw the arrival of a further 500 settlers in 1825, one of whom was Rev Francis McClelland, who in the same year was appointed Colonial Chaplain. The Roman Catholic Church established the Apostolic Vicariate of the Cape of Good Hope, Eastern District in the city in 1847. Gqeberha, then named Port Elizabeth, was granted the status of an autonomous municipality in 1861. Cape Colony Prime Minister

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (; 5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a politician and businessman who served as the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1872 to 1878. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

had formed the

Cape Government Railways The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910. History Private railways The first railways at the Cape were privately ow ...

in 1872. Completion of the railway to

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

in 1873 was a major stimulus to trade and a rapid increase in population in the town. With the massive expansion of the Cape Colony's railway network to the interior over the following years, the harbour of Gqeberha became the focus for serving import and export needs of a large area of the Cape's hinterland. The rapid economic development around the port, which followed the railway construction, caused Gqeberha to be nicknamed "the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

of South Africa", after the major British port. The town expanded as a diverse community, comprising Xhosa as well as European,

Cape Malay Cape Malays (, in Arabic Afrikaans, Arabic script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world, specifi ...

, and other immigrants. Port Elizabeth Horse Memorial

During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

of 1899–1902, the port served as an important transit-point for British soldiers, horses, and materials headed by railway to the front. No armed conflict took place within the city, but it felt the effects of the war with the arrival of many

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s who moved into the city. These included Boer women and children, whom the British

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. After the war, the British erected a monument to military horses that died during the war. "The unveiling of the monument commemorating the services of the

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...

which perished during the Anglo Boer War, 1899–1902, took place on Saturday afternoon, 11 February 1905, with the Mayor, Mr A Fettes, performing the ceremony."

Apartheid era

Under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, the South African government established legal

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

and started programs to separate communities physically as well as by classification and custom. The forced relocation under the auspices of the

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a syste ...

of the non-white population from mixed areas began in 1962, causing various

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s to be built for their use. Classification was sometimes arbitrary, and as in many other localities throughout the country, many citizens appearing to have mixed ancestry were at times subject to re-classification, which often had intrusive sociopolitical results. The non-white tenants of South End, and land owners in Fairview were forcibly relocated from 1965 through to 1975, as these areas were valued as prime real estate. The city-planning was viewed as the prototypical apartheid city. As

black South African Ethnic groups in South Africa have a variety of origins. The racial categories introduced by the colonial apartheid regime remain ingrained in South African society with the governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) c ...

s organized to try to achieve civil rights and social justice, government repression increased. In 1977

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...

, the black anti-apartheid activist, was interrogated and tortured by the security police in Gqeberha before being taken to

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, where he died. Other notable deaths in the city during this time included those of the Cradock Four, and of George Botha, a high-school teacher.

1952 Defiance Campaign

In 1952 the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

and the

South African Indian Congress The South African Indian Congress (SAIC) was an umbrella body founded in 1921 to coordinate between political organisations representing South African Indians, Indians in the various provinces of South Africa. Its members were the Natal Indian ...

(SAIC) called all South Africans to stand up against the apartheid government's unjust laws directed at the black African, Indian and

coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

population. On 6 April, while most white South Africans celebrated the tercentenary of

Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...

's arrival at the Cape in 1652, the ANC and SAIC called on black South Africans to observe the day as "A National Day of Pledge and Prayer". 15 000 people attended in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, 10 000 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, 10 000 in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

and 20 000 in Gqeberha. The meeting in Gqeberha was led by Professor Z. K. Matthews and by

Raymond Mhlaba Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba OMSG (12 February 1920 – 20 February 2005) was an anti-apartheid activist, Communist and leader of the African National Congress (ANC) who became the first premier of the Eastern Cape. Mhlaba spent 25 years of his ...

. On 25 July 1952, a day before the official start of the

Defiance Campaign The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in December 1951 in South Africa, 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conferenc ...

, 30 volunteers led by Raymond Mhlaba gathered at the New Brighton Civic Centre and prayed throughout the night. At 5am on 26 July, they left the Civic Centre and walked towards the New Brighton Railway Station. In ''Raymond Mhlaba's Personal Memoirs: Reminiscing from Rwanda and Uganda'', Mhlaba recalled:

"I led the very first group and we entered the '
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
ans Only' section of the New Brighton station. By half past six we were already in police vans on our way to jail. It turned out that my party (group) was the very first to defy unjust laws in the whole of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Little did we know that we were making history."

Mhlaba became the first man to be arrested during the campaign, while Florence Matomela was the first woman. 2 007 people were arrested in Gqeberha during the

included Oom Gov (Govan Mbeki) and

Vuyisile Mini Vuyisile Mini (8 April 1920 – 6 November 1964) was a trade unionist, Umkhonto we Sizwe activist, singer and one of the first African National Congress members to be executed by apartheid South Africa. Early life Mini was born in 1920 in T ...

. Other volunteers who emerged as key role players during the campaign included

Nosipho Dastile Nosipho Dastile (1938–2009) was a community and anti-Apartheid activist in the small town of Uitenhage, just outside Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. She was elected councillor under the banner of what was then the new democr ...

, Nontuthuzelo Mabala, Lilian Diedricks and

Veronica Sobukwe Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe OLS (27 July 1927 – 15 August 2018) was a South African nurse who played an integral role in the Defiance Campaign. Her husband, Robert Sobukwe, was a prominent political dissident. Her family was constantly harassed ...

1985 Consumer Boycotts

After the formation of the ANC-affiliated United Democratic Front in 1983, political consciousness in black townships grew. With numerous protests across the country and the massacre in Langa township near

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

, police presence had increased in South African townships. In the townships, black South Africans demanded the integration of public institutions, the removal of troops from black townships, and the end of

workplace discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, g ...

. To launch an effective campaign to cripple the white-owned institutions of Gqeberha and to undermine the legitimacy of apartheid, several women suggested the idea of a consumer boycott to the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO) in May 1985. The economic boycott began on 15 July 1985, and received massive support in townships around Gqeberha. By September 1985, white business-owners became desperate and called on the government to meet the demands of black South Africans. In November the boycott was still hurting white businesses in Gqeberha greatly. The white South African government reached an agreement with PEBCO which stated that the boycott would halt until March 1986 if business owners arranged for the release of black

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

s. In 1986, as the deal was approaching its end, the boycotters imposed a deadline of 31 March, stating that the boycott would resume if the initial demands were not met. On 11 March the government unexpectedly banned two leaders, one of whom was Mkuseli Jack. However, on 22 March the ban was lifted by the decision of a Supreme Court Justice on the grounds that the government had given insufficient reasons. Jack ripped up the ban papers, and used the celebration as a way to represent the solidarity that the campaign required. As the demands of the boycotters were not met by 31 March, the boycott was renewed on 1 April. The boycott continued for nine weeks, but on 12 June 1986 another state of emergency was imposed by the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

government. Security forces searched through the townships, arresting thousands and raiding the offices of black civics, trade unions, the UDF, the South African Council, and churches and also confiscating documents.

Modern history

With the establishment of the Coega Industrial Development Zone (CIDZ), foreign direct and also national-level investment has improved in the greater region of Nelson Mandela Bay. The IDZ, under the stewardship of the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), since inception has managed to attract to investment account in excess of R140-billion into the economy of the Eastern Cape and has enabled the

creation Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...

of over 45,000 jobs. This is significant for the area and the economy of the Eastern Cape. In 2001, the

was formed as an administrative area covering Gqeberha, the neighbouring towns of

and Despatch and the surrounding agricultural areas. The name honours former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

. The combined metropolitan area had a population estimated at around 1.3 million in 2006.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Overtaking its next door neighbouring city

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, it became a host city for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. The

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a association football, soccer and rugby union stadium in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, including the third-place play off. It is the home of Chip ...

hosted eight World Cup games:

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

;

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the Group Stage, then

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, South Korea in the Round of 16. A quarter-final between

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

was hosted, then for the Third Place playoff, Uruguay and Germany were hosted at the stadium. The World Cup was played between 11 June 2010 and 11 July 2010.

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

were the eventual champions.

2013 Africa Cup of Nations

The city was also one of the five that hosted the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. The same stadium that was used in the 2010 World Cup hosted eight games: five matches in Group B—

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, Ghana vs Mali; DR Congo vs Niger, and Ghana vs Niger; one match in Group A—

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, the quarterfinal—Ghana vs Cape Verde, and the third place playoff—Ghana vs Mali. The Africa Cup of Nations took place between 19 January and 10 February 2013.

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

were eventual champions.

Geography

Topography

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, the city has an

(''Cfb''), and under the

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

, the city has a

subtropical climate The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 3 ...

(''Cfbl''). The area lies between the winter rainfall, Mediterranean climate zones of the Western Cape and the summer rainfall regions of eastern South Africa. Winters are cool but mild and summers are warm but considerably less humid and hot than more northerly parts of South Africa's east coast. The climate is very even throughout the year with

extreme heat A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

or moderate cold rare.

Biodiversity

The city represents a large percentage of South Africa's biological diversity is a confluence point five of the seven South African biomes, namely the Thicket, Grassland, Nama-Karoo, Fynbos and Forest Biomes. A number of municipal nature reserves have been included in, and can be visited along the "Outward Bound Route" of the city. A mosaic of these 5 Biomes could be experienced in these reserves. The outward bound route is an eco-outdoor adventure and sports route incorporating walking and wildlife experiences. The aim of this route is to spread tourism to similar attractions along the route, leading to increased foot traffic and related benefits to these sites.

Architecture

Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin Port Elizabeth-001

As a British colonial town, it had a strongly British character, and the central area retains that to this day. The colonial City Hall is a national monument. The main public library is an excellent example of Victorian Gothic architecture. Various memorials are situated throughout the city environs, and there are many tours available to familiarise visitors with especially the apartheid era. The city could be considered to be the country's leading centre of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style architecture due to its European heritage. Many buildings display the intricate stonework, wrought iron and stained glass of that era which are prominently visible in the Central Historical areas of the city. Combinations of Art Nouveau and Colonial styles are seen in residences along Cape Road. The area also boasts a collection of

Cape Dutch Cape Dutch, also commonly known as Cape Afrikaners, were a historic socioeconomic class of Afrikaners who lived in the Western Cape during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The terms have been evoked to describe an affluent, educated sect ...

style architecture as well as the Victorian and

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

styles, resulting from the arrival of the 1820 British settlers. Although influenced by Dutch architecture, the Cape Dutch style is unique to South Africa and examples can be seen all over the Eastern and Western Cape.

Hydrology

The city has a long marine coastline on its outskirts, particularly southwards. Beaches like Kings Beach, Hobie Beach, Bluewater Bay, Sardinia Bay (just outside the city near

Schoenmakerskop Skoenmakerskop is a small village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located southwest of the promontory on which Port Elizabeth stands, 8 km west of Chelsea Point. Skoenmakerskop is Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic lan ...

), and the beaches along Marine Drive are abundant. Kings Beach is adjacent to the harbour, and the

longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle, shells) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming w ...

from Cape Recife provides a plentiful supply of sea sand. On the north westerly coastline, the contours tends to be rockier than the area between Cape Recife, and the

. There are a few rivers, of which the Baakens River is the most prominent. This river usually floods when a reasonable amount precipitation is observed, especially at low level crossings. North End Lake in North End is the largest natural

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

body in the city, but has experienced a form of

contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scien ...

from industry. (It is not recommended to

ingest Ingestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it normally is accomplished by taking in a substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking. In single-celled organisms, inges ...

anything from this lake) Also, numerous smaller "lakes" are in the surrounding area, namely Lake Farm. The Eastern Cape has been experiencing a devastating drought since 2015, and a disaster was declared in the region in October 2019. On 14 June 2022, a virtual special council meeting of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Council approved an emergency intervention plan by the National Department of Water and Sanitation. The plan includes: drilling more boreholes, pumping water from the east of the metropolitan area to the west of the area, and using floatation pumps to extract more water from some reservoirs. The meeting approved the appointment of Tlhologelo Mogoatlhe (a water and sanitation production engineer) as the interim infrastructure and engineering executive director. City officials asked residents to consume no more than of water per person per day. In mid-June 2022, Luvuyo Bangazi (spokesperson for the municipality's joint operations crisis committee) said that the city was losing about a third of its water because of leaks in pipes, and had a backlog of 3,000 leaks to fix. Joseph Tsatsire (Bay Water Distribution Director) said that Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality repaired 9,719 leaks over a three week period ending in mid-July 2022, leaving a backlog of 712 leaks reported. Though some residents claimed that the taps only work a few hours a day, Bangazi said that water was only shut off when maintenance was being done. Water consumption for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was as follows: *Target: 230 megalitres per day *Measured on 17 June 2022: 292 megalitres per day *Measured on 19 July 2022: 261 megalitres per day.

Demographics

In the 2011 census, Gqeberha, then named Port Elizabeth, was the most populous city in the Eastern Cape. In 2011: * Area: * Population: 312,392: * Households: 99,794:

Economy

The economy is primarily oriented towards automotive assembly, manufacturing and export industries, and the city is also a major South African and sub-Saharan African destination for investment. Foreign direct investments of $19,8 billion has been secured over the past decade. Several

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

companies are present or have their African operations headquartered in the city.

Trade and industry

Historically, the majority of trade in the region came through Gqeberha. In the 1830s, at least five ships regularly transported goods to Europe. It became a

free port A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

in 1832. In 1833, about 50 vessels had moved through the port. In 1828, 55,201 pounds, (25038 kg), of goods were imported through the port, increasing by 1832 to 112,845 pounds, (51185 kg), imported in that year. Gqeberha exported 41,290 lbs, (18738 kg), in 1828, with a large increase to 86,931 lbs, (39431 kg), goods exported in 1829. Exports included

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

hide Hide or hides may refer to: Common uses * Hide (skin), the cured skin of an animal * Bird hide, a structure for observing birds and other wildlife without causing disturbance * Gamekeeper's hide or hunting hide or hunting blind, a structure to hi ...

s and skins,

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

tallow Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton suet, primarily made up of triglycerides. In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton suet. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, inc ...

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

salted beef Corned beef, called salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

candle A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...

aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

, and more. Home of South Africa's

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

industry, the city boasts most vehicle assembly plants,

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Continental Tyres Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational Automotive industry, automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third-List of the largest ...

and many other automotive companies. As of 2018, after GM's exit from South Africa,

Isuzu , commonly known as Isuzu (, ), is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its principal activity is the production, marketing and sale of Isuzu commercial vehicles and diesel engines ...

took over their production plant in Struandale. In 2016, Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturer

BAIC Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC, formerly as Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shunyi District, Shunyi, Beijing. Founded in 1958 ...

and South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation announced a R11 billion joint venture for the establishment of a semi knock down vehicle assembly plant in

Coega The Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ), established in 1999 and 9 003 ha in extent, is situated near Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), i ...

. It is anticipated that the plant will go online in 2020. The FAW also have built a multi-billion rand plant in the region. Most other industries are geared towards the motor vehicle industry, providing parts such as wiring harnesses,

catalytic converter A catalytic converter part is an vehicle emissions control, exhaust emission control device which converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis, catalyzing a redox ...

s, batteries and tyres to the

vehicle manufacturer The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by ...

s. The largest economic sectors in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro are manufacturing, finance, community services and transport. Community services, trade and manufacturing sectors are the sectors that create the most employment in the Metro. The city offers a wealth of tourism and recreation opportunity due to its biodiversity, beaches and open spaces. Further still, Nelson Mandela Bay is a preferred region for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, flour, meat, frozen vegetables, soft drinks, chocolates, cheese, yoghurt, ice cream, paper and leather products. The city is also a major seaport, with the most significant car loading facilities in the southern hemisphere. As part of the ongoing development, a new Industrial Development Zone with expanded port facilities has been built at

Tourism

Located at the end of the picturesque

along the Cape coast, the city has beaches in and near it. The most popular swimming beaches include King's Beach and Hobie Beach. Many local historic attractions are linked by the ''Donkin Heritage Trail''. These include the Campanile (bell tower), built in 1923 to commemorate the arrival of the

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

and offering a viewpoint over the city; the city hall (1862); the ''Donkin Reserve'' park and monument; and the old stone '' Fort Frederick'' itself (1799). The CBD also boasts the towering Eastern Cape post office headquarters. Route 67 is a walking trail consisting of 67 public artworks, symbolising 67 years which Nelson Mandela dedicated to the freedom of South Africa. The artwork is a celebration of South African culture and history and is scattered along the route as it starts from the Campanile, up the stairs to the Vuysile Mini Market Square and to the large South African flag at the Donkin Reserve. The artworks were created by local Eastern Cape artists. Other attractions include the gardens at St George's Park, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum (formerly known as the ''King George VI Art Gallery''), the museum and oceanography room at Humewood, and the new ''Boardwalk'' waterfront complex. The wider area surrounding PE also features game viewing opportunities, including the

Addo Elephant National Park Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha in South Africa and is one of the country's 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi T ...

, to the north near the Zuurberg mountain range. It is also a destination for

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

with

humpback whales The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

sighted between June and August, and again between November and January,

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s sighted between July and November, and

Bryde's whale Bryde's whale ( ), or the Bryde's whale complex, putatively comprises three species of rorqual and possibly four. The "complex" means the number and classification remain unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research. The c ...

s sighted all year round.

Property development

Nelson Mandela Bay has experienced a construction boom led by the Baywest Mall and Coega Development Corporation (CDC). Baywest Mall which opened in May 2015 is the largest shopping centre in the

located on the western outskirts of the city and forms part of the Baywest City. Baywest City is a planned mixed-use development area and is striving to become a major development hub in the city's western suburbs.

located just outside of the city once an industrial development zone (IDZ) has now deemed the status of a

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

(SEZ). It also houses the second and the newest port of

Nelson Mandela Bay The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (; ) is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape province and comprises the city of Gqeberha, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and De ...

and

. This multi-billion rand project aims to drive local and foreign direct investments in export-oriented industries and position South Africa as the hub for

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

n trade.

Culture

There is only one foreign cultural centre, the Alliance Française of Port Elizabeth, a French language school and a francophone cultural centre.

Sports

Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth

It is the location of the St George's Park cricket ground, which holds

test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

matches. St George's Park is the oldest cricket ground in South Africa, and was the venue for the first Test match played outside of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, between

and

on 12 and 13 March 1889. The

Warriors A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

, a franchise cricket team in

, is based in Gqeberha, as is the

SA20 The SA20, also known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa, organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and first contested during the 2023 season. It is contested by six teams ba ...

franchise

Sunrisers Eastern Cape Sunrisers Eastern Cape is a South African professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the SA20 tournament. The team is based in Gqeberha, and was formed in 2022. The team's home-ground is St George's Park Cricket Ground. The te ...

. The stadium is also known for its band that entertains fans at the Proteas games. In December 2011, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium became the new home of the

South Africa Sevens The South Africa Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament that is held in South Africa. It is currently hosted in Cape Town and is part of the Sevens World Series run by World Rugby. A South African leg of the World series has been included ...

, the country's leg of the annual

IRB Sevens World Series The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World ...

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

. The event had previously been held in three other cities, most recently in

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

from 2002 to 2010. As of 2015, is hosted annually in

, in the Western Cape. The headquarters of the

Southern Spears The Southern Spears were a South African rugby union franchise who were founded in 2005 and were intended to participate in Super 14 from 2007 onwards; however, their proposed entry into the competition led to considerable controversy within t ...

rugby franchise was in Gqeberha. The long-standing Eastern Province Rugby Union, now commonly known as the

Eastern Province Elephants The Eastern Province Elephants (), known as the Multisure Eastern Province Elephants for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge competitions. They are governed by ...

, formed the basis of the Spears franchise together with

Border Bulldogs The Border Bulldogs () is a South African professional rugby union team based in East London that participates in the annual Currie Cup competitions. They are governed by the Border Rugby Union (BRU). History The Border Rugby Football Union go ...

. The remnants of the Spears were later reconstituted into the

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They w ...

, also based in Gqeberha, which joined

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

in 2013. The Southern Kings did not participate in Super Rugby in 2014 or 2015, and returned to Super Rugby in 2016, 2017, but were dropped for economical reasons by SARU. The team now competes in the Guinness

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. The Eastern Province Rugby Union play their home matches at

, built for the

. The biggest sporting events in the city, is the annual

Ironman triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

and the Herald Cycle tour. The Tuna classic deep-sea fishing competition attracts anglers from all over the world. There are

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

and many other sports facilities. Its coastal location also makes it a base for some watersports. The city's main

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club is

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in East London in the Eastern Cape province, having previously been based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club ...

, they currently use the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium as their home ground. Previous clubs to play in the country's top tier were Bay United,

Michau Warriors Michau Warriors was a South African soccer club. They played in the inaugural 1996–97 season of the Premiership, where they were relegated to the National First Division (NFD) after finishing in 17th place. The club was relegated after rel ...

, Port Elizabeth Blackpool, Hotspur F.C., Port Elizabeth City and Westview Apollon. The Algoa Bay Yacht Club operates out of the port.

Government

Gqeberha had its own municipality from 1843 to 2000. Since then, it has formed part of the

, and also serves as the seat for the surrounding Cacadu District Municipality. It has a

Magistrate's Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrates' cour ...

, a local seat of the

Eastern Cape Division The Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The main seat of the division is at Makhanda, with subordinate local seats at Gqeberh ...

of the High Court, and a branch of the

Labour Court A labor court (or labour court or industrial tribunal) is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts. O ...

. As a result of the presence of a High Court, several other related organs of state such as a Masters Office and a Director of Public Prosecutions are present in the city. All Government (mostly provincial) departments maintain branches or other offices in the city.

Coat of arms

The Gqeberha municipality assumed a coat of arms on 9 January 1878.Western Cape Archives : Port Elizabeth Municipal Minutes (9 January 1878)''Eastern Province Herald'' (11 January 1878) The design, prepared by

Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Bradbury Wilkinson & Co were an English engraver and printer of banknotes, postage stamps and share certificates. History The original company was established in the 1850s by Henry Bradbury and begun printing banknotes in 1856. Bradbury then die ...

(of London), was a simplified version of the arms of Sir Rufane Donkin: ''Gules, on a chevron Argent between two cinquefoils in chief and a bugle horn stringed in base Or, three buckles Sable; a chief embattled Argent thereon an elephant statant proper.'' The crest was a sailing ship, and the motto ''In meliora spera''. (In layman's terms: a red shield displaying, from top to bottom, an elephant on a silver horizontal strip whose lower edge is embattled, two gold cinquefoils, a silver chevron bearing three black buckles, and a gold bugle horn.) Eighty years later, in 1958, the council made slight changes to the arms, and had them granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

. The changes consisted of adding two anchors to the chief of the shield, placing a red mural crown bearing three golden rings below the ship in the crest, and changing the motto to ''Tu meliora spera''. The arms were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in 1959,Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 2969 (1 May 1959) and at the Bureau of Heraldry in 1986.

Education

Tertiary education

The

Nelson Mandela University Nelson Mandela University, formerly Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, is a public university in South Africa. Established in 1882 as Port Elizabeth, Art School it comprises the former University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Tec ...

was formed by the amalgamation of the

University of Port Elizabeth The University of Port Elizabeth (UPE) was a public university located in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. UPE was founded on 31 January 1964, by an act of parliament, and held its first academic year in 1965. It off ...

, Port Elizabeth Technikon, and the Port Elizabeth campus of

Vista University Vista University, South Africa was founded by the apartheid government to ensure that urban black South Africans seeking tertiary education would be accommodated within the townships rather than on campuses reserved for other population groups. ...

. It is the largest university in the Eastern and Southern Cape, with around 29,000 students in seven faculties spread over seven campuses.

Secondary education

The city has a number of top government-funded and private schools, including Alexander Road High School, Collegiate Girls' High School,

Grey High School Grey High School is a State school, semi-private English-medium high school (grades 8 to 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the coun ...

, Otto du Plessis High School, Pearson High School, Victoria Park High School, Westering High School, Woodridge College, Linkside High School, Andrew Rabie High School, Lawson Brown High School, and Morningside High School.

Substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

appears to be a prevailing problem in some schools due to a lack of drug prevention training on the part of the educational system.

Transport

Roads

Gqeberha lies on the N2 road. To the west the road travels the

and

; to the east, the road runs through the Border Country through

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

, to

then on to

, terminating in Ermelo in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

. The R75 connects the city to Despatch,

and the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

. The major routes within the city are numbered as metropolitan or M routes. The city's main bus station is in Market Square. The public bus service is run by the Algoa Bus Company. Between 1881 and 1948, there was a Port Elizabeth tramway network, powered initially by horses, and later by electricity. The city is in the process of building a bus rapid transit system which was intended for the

. This has been a massive failure as local taxi associations have prevented the implementation. The city lacks a proper public transport system which has had a negative impact on the poorer residents of the city who are dependent on public transport. Construction of the bus rapid transit network has been suspended due to mismanagement which led to the project missing its May 2010 deadline. Calls for the project, which has left many parts of the city in a permanent state of construction, have been made recently, and it is expected that the government will make a decision on the matter soon.

Railway

Port Elizabeth railway station Port Elizabeth railway station is a railway station, located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In 1873, Prime Minister John Molteno of the Cape Colony commenced work on connecting Port Elizabeth to the developing national railway network, result ...

is served by South Africa's rail network. Local commuter services are operated by

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...

, while the

Shosholoza Meyl Shosholoza Meyl is a division of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) that operates long-distance (inter-city rail, intercity) passenger rail services. It operates various train routes across South Africa, carrying approximately 4 mi ...

long-distance passenger service links PE with

via

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

where it is possible to connect with other long-distance routes.

Air

Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport is an airport serving Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), a city in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. It was formerly known as H. F. Verwoerd Airport and Port Elizabeth International Airport. The ai ...

(

IATA airport code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a unique three-letter geocode designating many airports, cities (with one or more airports) and metropolitan areas (citie ...

PLZ,

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published quarterly in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indic ...

FAPE) serves the city for both passenger and cargo traffic. It is the fourth busiest airport in South Africa after

O.R. Tambo International Airport O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport serving the twin cities of Johannesburg and the main capital of South Africa, Pretoria. It is situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and ...

King Shaka International Airport King Shaka International Airport , abbreviated KSIA, is the primary international airport serving Durban, South Africa. It is located in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately north of the city centre of Durban. The airport opened its doors ...

in Durban, and

Cape Town International Airport Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the List of South African airports by passenger movements, second-busiest airport in South Africa and List of busiest airports in Afric ...

. International visitors to the city must currently fly to either

, and then take a domestic flight to Gqeberha. An upgrade to the terminal building, completed in 2004, created the necessary facilities to handle international flights although none are scheduled as yet.

Sea

The city has a harbour in Algoa Bay, and the construction of an additional international harbour at

has supported an increase in the size of the city's industries and the addition of new industries.

Municipal

Water sources

One of the water sources from which the city gets its water is via a series of canals, tunnels and rain basin transfer schemas that starts in the Free State at Gariep Dam – Transfer Scheme ( Additional Documentaries Resource), about 5hours away at 462 km. The water from

Gariep Dam The Gariep Dam is located in South Africa, near the town of Norvalspont, bordering the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation. It the largest dam ...

is transferred via the Orange-Fish River Project (Tunnel) into the Great Fish River Valley, then again into the Sundays River Valley ( Canals and Tunnels Scheme) North-West of the city. Since 1992 the water from the Sundays River Valley has been supplied to the city.

water is also used for electricity generation by

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...

hydro-electric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

, remotely controlled from

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

. Therefore, it must be managed carefully by balancing the supply-and-demand of this water resource usage for its derivatives of electricity generation, irrigation, and municipal drinking water. Other nearby dams include

Kouga Dam The Kouga Dam is an arch dam on the Kouga River about west of Patensie in Kouga Local Municipality, South Africa. It supplies irrigation water to the Kouga and Gamtoos valleys as well as drinking water to the Port Elizabeth metropolitan area v ...

, Kromme Dam, Groendal Dam, Impofu Dam, and Lourie Dam.

Health care

The city has numerous government-funded and private hospitals.

Media

Radio

The city is served by a few

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

stations, namely

Algoa FM Algoa FM is the main South African commercial radio station serving the Eastern Cape province and Garden Route. It started broadcasting on 1 January 1986 as part of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It was privatised in October 1996 ...

(regional radio broadcasting to the entire Eastern Cape, Garden Route, and globally via internet) and Umhlobo Wenene FM.

Newspapers

'' The Herald'' serves English readers in terms of

newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, on a daily basis. ''

Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with '' Beeld'' and '' Volksblad'', it ...

'' serves the

-speaking communities with a well established readership base.

Television

The

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

has a regional office in Gqeberha. Bay TV is a free-to-air station established by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality that broadcasts 24-hours a day, seven-days a week. The station focusses on African story-telling and creating platforms for local content creators, and receives funding from local government and corporate donors.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

* Beira, Mozambique *

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden *

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, United States *

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

, China

Notable people

Notes

References

External links

*
Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Defiance Campaign of 1952
{{Authority control * Cities in South Africa Port cities and towns of the Indian Ocean Port cities and towns in South Africa Populated coastal places in South Africa Populated places in Nelson Mandela Bay 1820 establishments in the Cape Colony Populated places established in 1820

Etymology

History

Prehistory

Early history

British settlement

Apartheid era

1952 Defiance Campaign

1985 Consumer Boycotts

Modern history

2010 FIFA World Cup

2013 Africa Cup of Nations

Geography

Topography

Climate

Biodiversity

Architecture

Hydrology

Demographics

Economy

Trade and industry

Tourism

Property development

Culture

Sports

Government

Coat of arms

Education

Tertiary education

Secondary education

Transport

Roads

Railway

Air

Sea

Municipal

Water sources

Health care

Media

Radio

Newspapers

Television

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

External links