Norway is famed for its fjords (long, narrow valleys where water flows), with over 1,000 named fjords across the country and the Svalbard islands.
However, you won’t find the world’s largest network of fjords there. You’ll find it on a different continent: North America
- It’s 100 times the size of Yellowstone, almost entirely covered by ice and is home to the ‘Iceberg Graveyard’
- Where is Greenland?
The world’s largest fjord system is likely Scoresbysund, in eastern Greenland.
Scoresbysund (also known as Scoresby Sound or Kangertittivaq) is generally considered to stretch around 350 kilometres (220 miles) inland from Greenland’s coast.
In total, the fjord system covers an area of around 38,000 square kilometres (14,700 square miles).
To compare, the US state of Hawaiʻi is approximately 28,313 square kilometres (10,932 square miles).
Scoresbysund contains many fjords (such as Fonfjord and Gaasefjord) and islands (including Milne Land and Storo).
Its deep waters provide habitat for whales such as belugas and narwhals, as well as walruses and several seal species. While polar bears can be seen in Scoresbysund, there are relatively rare.
And across the nearby tundras of the Greenland National Park, musk oxen and Arctic wolves and foxes roam.
The fjord is named after William Scoresby, an English whaler who surveyed the area in the 19th century.
In Norwegian, ‘sund’ translates to a strait, channel or inlet.
Top image: iceberg in Scoresbysund. Credit: Adrian Wojcik / Getty Images
