Important Ports of the World

In this article, You will read Important Ports of the World (Major Seaports of the World) – for UPSC IAS.

A port is a maritime facility which may comprise one or more wharves where ships may dock to load and discharge passengers and cargo. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, some ports, such as Hamburg, Manchester, and Duluth, are many miles inland, with access to the sea via river or canal.
Ports are extremely important to the global economy, responsible for 70% of global merchandise trade by value.
Today, by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world’s largest and busiest ports, such as Singapore and the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan.
As of 2020, the busiest passenger port in the world is the Port of Helsinki in Finland. However, ports can also be very small and only serve local fishing or tourism.