Society and book culture: UNESCO declared Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014

City of Port Harcourt in Nigeria by the United Nations on Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) is declared World Book Capital 2014. The city is awarded this honorary title for a successful program in the field of education, particularly aimed at young people and the promotion of culture of reading, letter and publishing.

The decision on conferring the honorary title adopted city Selection Committee, which includes representatives of the International Union of publishers, booksellers, the International Federation of booksellers, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and UNESCO.

Annually the Committee assigns the honorary title to town, which has pledged to promote books and reading, confirming the vital importance of literary creativity. This program was launched by UNESCO in 2001 on the initiative of publishing professionals in Madrid and is now being implemented with the support of major international associations of book publishers.

Port Harcourt in Nigeria is the 14th World Book Capital. Its predecessors are Madrid (Spain, 2001), Alexandria (Egypt, 2002), New Delhi, India (2003), Antwerp (Belgium, 2004), Montreal (Canada, 2005) Turin (Italy, 2006), Bogota (Colombia, 2007), Amsterdam (Netherlands, 2008), Beirut (Lebanon, 2009), Ljubljana (Slovenia, 2010), Buenos Aires (Argentina, 2011), Yerevan (Armenia, 2012), Bangkok (Thailand 2013).