Port Elizabeth, often known by its initials PE and officially renamed Gqeberha [ᶢǃʱɛ̀ɓéːxà] on 23 February 2021, is a major seaport city and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

It is nicknamed “The Friendly City” or “The Windy City”, and is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa’s second largest metropolitan district by area. It is the most-populous city of the Eastern Cape, the sixth most-populous city in South Africa and the cultural, economic and financial centre of the Eastern Cape. The city is among the top five cities in the world for pleasant weather, according to a 2014 scientific climate study of 600 global cities. 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 tourism gateway city for Eastern Cape’s adventure, outdoor and African big five game, malaria-free safari tourism, all in close proximity.^[promotion?]

Located on the western portion of Algoa Bay along the south-eastern coast of South Africa, the city lies 770 km east of Cape Town. It is east of the Garden Route and faces the Indian Ocean. It covers 251 square kilometers of the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area, South Africa’s sixth-largest metropolitan municipality.

The second oldest city in South Africa, it was founded in 1820 by the government of the Cape Colony as “Port Elizabeth” when 4,000 British colonists settled Algoa Bay to strengthen the border region between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa. The city’s warm oceanic climate ranks among the top ten cities in the world for pleasant, all year round weather, according to a Syracuse University climatology study.

In 2019, the Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee recommended that Port Elizabeth be renamed Gqeberha, which is the Xhosa name for the Baakens River that flows through the city, originally from Southern Khoe language, perhaps the word “!Gaibexa”. The city’s name change was officially gazetted on 23 February 2021.