Greenock, burgh, administrative center of Inverclyde unitary authority, central Scotland, on the southern shore of the Firth of Clyde. Greenock has a fine harbor with modern port facilities. Its chief import is raw sugar, which is refined here. Other manufactures include machinery, metal products, and woolens and worsteds. Greenock is the site of the James Watt College, originally founded in 1837 in commemoration of the inventor James Watt, who was born in Greenock. Greenock was made a royal burgh in 1635. In the late 1600s the town was an important herring-trading center. Its port facilities were opened in 1710. It suffered considerable damage from German bombing in World War II (1939-1945). Population 50,013 (1991).
