West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord
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How it came to be
The Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord lie 120 km apart and belong to the fjord landscape of western Norway, which stretches 500 km from Stavanger to Åndalsnes. Their crystalline rock walls rise up to 1,400 m from the Norwegian Sea and continue some 500 m below sea level. The fjords are between 250 m and 2.5 km wide, and the Nærøyfjord is about 17 km long and only about 250 m across at its narrowest.
Remnants of old transhumant farms, most of them now abandoned, cling to the steep sides; along the Geirangerfjord the best known are Skageflå, Knivsflå and Blomberg. Across the fjord from each other fall the Seven Sisters waterfall and the Suitor, who is said to be trying to woo the sisters opposite.
The village of Geiranger lives under the threat of a rock slide from the mountain Åkerneset, which would send a megatsunami up the fjord, and sirens have been installed to warn residents. Geiranger is also Norway's third-largest cruise port, receiving 140 to 180 ships in a four-month season. The two fjords, 122,712 ha of land and sea, were inscribed in 2005.
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