Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord - two Norwegian Fjords inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage list

2005-08-08

These beautiful fjords are located in the counties of Sogn & Fjordane and Møre & Romsdal in southwestern Norway, northeast of Bergen. Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, set 120 km from one another, are part of the west Norwegian fjord landscape, which stretches from Stavanger in the south to Andalsnes, 500 km to the northeast. Norwegian Fjords are among the seven natural sites added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.Now these sites have the same status as other nature wonders as Grand Canyon in USA and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Tourists flocks to Norway to experience the beauty of the fjords and for trekking in the high mountains around.

Photo. One of Norway many beautiful fjords - Geiranger from the spot Geiranger Flydalsjuvet. © Copyright Travel Explorations.

UNESCO`s explaination for inscribed these fjords on its list is:
"The two fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, are considered as archetypical fjord landscapes and among the most scenically outstanding anywhere. Their exceptional natural beauty is derived from their narrow and steep-sided crystalline rock walls that rise up to 1,400m from the Norwegian Sea and extend 500m below sea level.

The sheer walls of the fjords have numerous waterfalls while free flowing rivers cross their deciduous and coniferous forests to glacial lakes, glaciers and rugged mountains. The landscape features a range of supporting natural phenomena, both terrestrial and marine such as submarine moraines and marine mammals".

Read more about these fjords on UNESCO`s website http://whc.unesco.org

For one year ago the National Geographic Traveler Magazine, one of the world's most highly regarded travel magazines, selected the world's greatest unspoiled travel spots. They arrived at 115 destinations and put Norwegian fjords at the very top of the list.

Tourists flock to Norway for trekking around the fjords, taking cruise boat tours, paddling and swimming round in the fjords.

Stein Morten Lund, 8 August 2005

Additional information

Links:
www.norway.org

www.fjordnorway.com

Norwegian Fjords and Japan's Shiretoko peninsula are among the seven natural sites added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.

The World Heritage List (source: UNESCO):
It includes 812 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These include 628 cultural, 160 natural and 24 mixed properties in 137 States Parties.