Harbors and ports are often confused. A port is a man-made coastal or riverine facility where boats and ships can load and unload. It may consist of quays, wharfs, jetties, piers and slipways with cranes or ramps. A port may have magazine buildings or warehouses for storage of goods and a transport system, such as railway, road transport or pipeline transport facilities for relaying goods inland.

Natural harbors

Ice-free harbors

main: Ice-free port For harbors near the poles, being ice-free is an important advantage, ideally all-year round. Examples are Murmansk (Russia), Petsamo (Russia, formerly Finland), Hammerfest, Vardø, and Prince Rupert (Canada). The southern-most harbor, at Antarctica's Winter Quarters Bay (77°50′S), presents a potentially ice-free harbor, dependent on summer pack ice conditions.

Temporary harbors

image:St. John's, NFLD harbour.jpg

Sometimes a harbor is needed where one isn't available due to damage, such as in times of war. In this case a temporary harbor may be built and transported in pieces to the location. The most notable of these were the two Mulberry harbours used during the D-Day invasion of Normandy in World War II.

Notable harbors

The following are large natural harbors:

• Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
• Boston Harbor, United States
• Charleston, United States
• Cork Harbour, Republic of Ireland
• Durban, South Africa
• Falmouth, Cornwall, England
• Freetown Harbour, Sierra Leone
• Gothenburg, Sweden
• Grand Harbour, Malta
• Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia Canada
• Kingston, Jamaica
• Kochi, India
• Manila Bay, Philippines
• Milford Haven, Wales
• Montevideo, Uruguay
• Mumbai, India
• New York Harbor, United States
• Oslofjord, Norway
• Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Plymouth Sound, Devon, England
• Poole Harbour, Dorset, England
• Port Jackson, Australia
• Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia
• Rio de Janeiro, Guanabara Bay, Brazil
• Salvador, Brazil
• San Diego Bay, San Diego, California
• San Francisco Bay, United States
• Tokyo Bay, Tokyo, Japan
• Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
• Vancouver, Canada
• Wellington Harbour, New Zealand
• Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles