Harbor (Civ6)

Harbor
District of the Classical Era
Introduced in Civilization VI
Unlocked by	Celestial Navigation
Plunder	Gold
Cost
Production	54
Production	54
Yields
Great Person Points	+1 Great Admiral point per turn.
Adjacency Bonus	+1 Gold from each adjacent coastal resource. +1 Gold from every 2 adjacent district tiles. +2 Gold from City Center.
Citizen Yields (per citizen)	+2 Gold +1 Food
Trade Yields	Domestic Destination: +1 Production International Destination: +3 Gold
Unlocks
Buildings	Lighthouse  Shipyard  Seaport
Projects	Harbor Shipping
Unique variants
District	Cothon
District	Cothon
Unique to	Phoenician
Unique to	Phoenician
Royal Navy Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyard
English
English
Notes
Must be built on Coast or Lake Terrain adjacent to land. +1 Trade Route capacity.

Back to the list of districts

The Harbor is a specialty District in Civilization VI focused on naval power and maritime trade. It requires Celestial Navigation and must be built on a Coast or Lake tile adjacent to land.

• Effects:
  • Major bonus (+2 Gold) for being adjacent to the City Center
  • Standard bonus (+1 Gold) for each adjacent Sea resource (except Shipwrecks)
  • Minor bonus (+½ Gold) for each adjacent District
  • +1 Great Admiral point per turn
  • +1 Trade Route capacity if this city doesn't already have a Commercial Hub. (Requires a Lighthouse in Rise and Fall.)
  • Allows its parent city to build ships, even if the City Center is inland
  • Newly produced or purchased ships will spawn at the Harbor tile (as long as the Harbor tile is unoccupied)
  • Removes movement penalties for units Embarking to and from its tile (even if the district is still under construction)
  • Allows its parent city to build Ships requiring Strategic Resources with only 1 count of the relevant resource (prior to Gathering Storm)
  • Specialists add +2 Gold and +1 Food each

Buildings

The following buildings can be constructed in a Harbor:

• Lighthouse
• Shipyard
• Seaport

Projects

• Harbor Shipping: Earns Gold equal to 15% of Production used and Great Admiral points

Strategy

The Harbor is one of the more important districts in both single- and multiplayer games. The most important bonus from it is +1 Trade Route capacity, but the extra Housing from its buildings is also a great bonus. The extra Food and Production from domestic Trade Routes are important early game boosts.

As sea tiles are often barren in Civilization VI, one should avoid directly settling by the coast. Here is where the Harbor comes in handy: it allows for ship production and sea trade while allowing players to place the otherwise coastal city in-land. This helps players access in-land resources, fresh water, and a greater number of tiles for districts for their "coastal" cities. That said, maximizing the Harbor's Gold output requires founding a city on the coast, as the Harbor gets an adjacency bonus from being next to the City Center.

For ship production, the Harbor fills the role of an Encampment for ships. The Harbor also allows for the construction of many coastal wonders, which is something to consider for single-player games.

Between building Commercial Hubs and Harbors, whichever gives higher adjacency bonus at the time should probably receive priority. Both districts can also make a nice combo, especially when combined with the City Center, since Commercial Hubs receive adjacency bonuses for being next to a Harbor and Harbors receive adjacency bonuses for being next to a City Center. While Gold isn't the most important yield, extra early Gold production is still helpful. It is also nice to have at least one Harbor for sea exploration (in case you didn't settle any cities on the coast). Map discovery via sea can be important in single-player games, particularly with continent-heavy maps.

In Gathering Storm constructing a Harbor on a Lake tile and connecting the lake to the sea with a Canal or two will give you an easily-protected shipbuilding yard. Additionally, you will still be able to use the district's secondary bonuses mentioned above, and even construct sea-based wonders (if the lake is big enough, of course).

Civilopedia entry

Safe haven, shelter from storms, place to rest and refit, harbor. As soon as men went sailing, the need for harbors became evident. Early civilizations sought out natural harbors, and history has been often defined by where these maritime settlements sat. In time, breakwaters, jetties, seawalls, lighthouses, and drydocks were added, and the seabed was dredged if necessary to keep the harbor open. The harbors were the centers of trade and naval war, the launch point for exploration and end point for immigration. As technology developed, "artificial" harbors could now be built to handle modern merchant ships – such as Long Beach Harbor, created from salt marshes and tidal flats – using concrete, steel, dredge barges, and pumping stations.

Gallery

Harbor in game

See also

• Harbor in other games