Poole is a coastal town, port and tourist destination, situated on the shores of the English Channel, in the ceremonial county of Dorset in southern England. The town has a population of 141,128 and is famed for its large natural harbour.
The town's name derives from the Old English pol which was given to people who lived near a small body of water such as a pool or pond. Variants include Pool, Pole, Poles, Poll, Polle, Polman, and Poolman.
Prominent employers in Poole include Barclays Bank, Hamworthy Engineering, Poole Packaging, and Ryvita. The town is home to the headquarters of Sunseeker, Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), cosmetics company Lush, and the clothing company, Animal.
Poole Harbour (said to be the second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney), has been a working port for many hundreds of years, though the port has declined somewhat as the shallow water cannot take the largest ships.
The harbour is noted for its ecology: supporting salt marsh, mudflats and an internationally important population of wintering waterfowl, as well as the Brownsea Island nature reserve, where the Scouting movement began.
Today the port is amongst other things the home of Sunseeker, manufacturers of luxury yachts, and the departure point for ferries (Brittany Ferries and Condor Ferries) to France and the Channel Islands.
The quayside and harbour was the place from which some ships departed for the D-Day landings of World War II.
