diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d98719
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+DB_HOST=
+DB_USER=root
+DB_PASS=
+DB_NAME=webgis_class
+DB_PORT=3306
+DB_CHARSET=utf8mb4
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1ea6781..0c4beec 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 .env
-.env.*
 api/config/database.local.php
 *.sql
 !database.sql
diff --git a/api/config/database.php b/api/config/database.php
index 816c251..6662a19 100644
--- a/api/config/database.php
+++ b/api/config/database.php
@@ -3,16 +3,68 @@
 
 mysqli_report(MYSQLI_REPORT_OFF);
 
+/**
+ * Parse and load a .env file into the environment.
+ * Supports KEY=VALUE format, ignores comments (#) and empty lines.
+ */
+if (!function_exists('loadEnvFile')) {
+    function loadEnvFile(string $filePath): void {
+        if (!is_file($filePath)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $lines = file($filePath, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
+        foreach ($lines as $line) {
+            $line = trim($line);
+
+            // Skip comments and empty lines
+            if ($line === '' || str_starts_with($line, '#')) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // Split on first '=' only
+            $eqPos = strpos($line, '=');
+            if ($eqPos === false) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            $key   = trim(substr($line, 0, $eqPos));
+            $value = trim(substr($line, $eqPos + 1));
+
+            // Strip surrounding quotes if present
+            if (
+                strlen($value) >= 2 &&
+                (($value[0] === '"' && $value[-1] === '"') ||
+                 ($value[0] === "'" && $value[-1] === "'"))
+            ) {
+                $value = substr($value, 1, -1);
+            }
+
+            // Only set if not already defined by the server/environment
+            if ($key !== '' && getenv($key) === false) {
+                putenv("$key=$value");
+                $_ENV[$key]    = $value;
+                $_SERVER[$key] = $value;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// Load .env from project root (two levels up from this file)
+loadEnvFile(dirname(__DIR__, 2) . '/.env');
+
 if (!function_exists('loadDatabaseConfig')) {
     function loadDatabaseConfig(): array {
         $config = [
-            'host' => getenv('DB_HOST') ?: 'localhost',
-            'user' => getenv('DB_USER') ?: 'root',
-            'pass' => getenv('DB_PASS') ?: '',
-            'name' => getenv('DB_NAME') ?: 'webgis',
+            'host'    => getenv('DB_HOST')    ?: 'localhost',
+            'user'    => getenv('DB_USER')    ?: 'root',
+            'pass'    => getenv('DB_PASS')    ?: '',
+            'name'    => getenv('DB_NAME')    ?: 'webgis_class',
+            'port'    => (int)(getenv('DB_PORT') ?: 3306),
             'charset' => getenv('DB_CHARSET') ?: 'utf8mb4',
         ];
 
+        // Allow local override file for development (not committed to git)
         $localConfigFile = __DIR__ . '/database.local.php';
         if (is_file($localConfigFile)) {
             $localConfig = require $localConfigFile;
@@ -27,16 +79,17 @@ if (!function_exists('loadDatabaseConfig')) {
 
 $dbConfig = loadDatabaseConfig();
 
-define('DB_HOST', $dbConfig['host']);
-define('DB_USER', $dbConfig['user']);
-define('DB_PASS', $dbConfig['pass']);
-define('DB_NAME', $dbConfig['name']);
+define('DB_HOST',    $dbConfig['host']);
+define('DB_USER',    $dbConfig['user']);
+define('DB_PASS',    $dbConfig['pass']);
+define('DB_NAME',    $dbConfig['name']);
+define('DB_PORT',    $dbConfig['port']);
 define('DB_CHARSET', $dbConfig['charset']);
 
 function getDB(): mysqli {
     static $conn = null;
     if ($conn === null) {
-        $conn = new mysqli(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS, DB_NAME);
+        $conn = new mysqli(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS, DB_NAME, DB_PORT);
         if ($conn->connect_error) {
             error_log('DB connection failed: ' . $conn->connect_error);
             http_response_code(500);