Port Harcourt is the capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria and the centre of the country's oil industry. The city was founded by the British in 1913 as a deep-water port on the Bonny River and named after Lewis Harcourt, Secretary of State for the Colonies; before that, the area was small fishing villages at the edge of the Niger Delta. It is still sometimes called the "Garden City" for its colonial-era planned avenues and green spaces, though the reality of modern Port Harcourt is more sprawling and chaotic than that nickname suggests.
Most visitors are here for the oil and gas industry rather than tourism. The security situation in the wider Niger Delta has been unstable for decades, with kidnapping risk in the outer creeks and occasional militant activity. Stay in the city centre, use reputable hotel security and drivers, and check Foreign Office advice before planning any trips outside the city.
Within Port Harcourt itself, Isaac Boro Park, the Port Harcourt Zoo, and the Pleasure Park are the main green spaces. The older streets of Old GRA — the original colonial Government Reserved Area — are the most pleasant part of the city to walk through, with Corpus Christi Cathedral and the Bonny Waterside giving you a sense of the early colonial city. Nigerian, Chinese, and Lebanese restaurants cluster around Old GRA, and Trans Amadi is where most of the oil-company compounds and heavy industry are based.
The National Museum covers the art and material culture of the delta peoples, and the Port Harcourt Book Festival in November has made the city one of West Africa's most important literary centres. Rivers United FC at Yakubu Gowon Stadium provides one of the most authentic and exhilarating local experiences available.
For those with the time and the right arrangements, the Niger Delta itself is extraordinary — mangrove channels, stilt villages, and wildlife. Finima Nature Park on Bonny Island is accessible by ferry and offers guided walks through one of the last intact stretches of delta forest. Trips further into the delta should be organised through reputable tour operators with local security connections.
The climate is equatorial: hot, humid, and wet. The rainy season runs from March to October with heavy daily downpours; November to February is drier and marginally cooler.