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Port Elizabeth, often shortened to "PE", and nicknamed "The Friendly City" was founded in 1820 by Sir Rufane Donkin , the Acting Governor of the Cape Colony, and populated with 4,000 British settlers arriving by sea. The new seaport town was named after Donkin's late wife, Elizabeth. (It was not named for Elizabeth I as many people claim.)
In 2001, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, or Nelson Mandela Metropole , was formed by joining Port Elizabeth with the neighbouring towns of Uitenhage and Despatch and the surrounding agricultural areas. This metropolitan area has a population of 1.5 million.
Port Elizabeth is just south of the expanding Addo Elephant National Park , and boasts the highly succesful University of Port Elizabeth (to be merged with PE Technicon in 2005 to form Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)