Port Elizabeth

Gqeberha (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Xhosa: [ᶢǃʱɛ̀ɓéːxà]; English: /kɛˈbɛərxə/ keb-AIR-khə[3]), previously named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E.,[a] is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa's second-smallest metropolitan municipality by area.[6] It is the sixth-most populous city in South Africa[7][8][9] and is the cultural, economic and financial hub of the Eastern Cape.[6][10][11] Port Elizabeth was founded in 1820 by Sir Rufane Donkin, who was the governor of the Cape at the time. He named it after his late wife, Elizabeth, who had died in India. The Donkin Memorial in the CBD of the city bears testament to this. It was established by the government of the Cape Colony when 4,000 British colonists settled in Algoa Bay to strengthen the border region between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa. It is nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City".[6][12][13] 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 that flows through the city. The city's name change was officially gazetted on 23 February 2021,[14] although the new name remains poorly used locally as of 2023.[15]