Geiranger is a small tourist village in

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

region of

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county in the western part of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in

Stranda Municipality Stranda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stranda, ...

at the head of the Geirangerfjorden, which is a branch of the large Storfjorden. The nearest city is

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

. Geiranger is home to spectacular scenery, and has been named the best travel destination in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

. Since 2005, the Geirangerfjord area has been listed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Norwegian County Road 63 Norwegian County Road 63 ( or ) is a Norwegian county road in Møre og Romsdal county and a very small part in Innlandet county, Norway. It begins at Norwegian National Road 15 along the lake Langvatnet in Skjåk Municipality in Innlandet county ...

passes through the village and the Geiranger - Hellesylt Ferry stops at the village too. Geiranger Church is the main church for the village and surrounding area. The village had a population (2023) of 215 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . Since 2000, the population and area data for this village area has not been separately tracked by

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

. Geiranger is under constant threat from landslides from the mountain Åkerneset into the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

. A collapse would cause a

megatsunami A megatsunami is an incredibly large wave created by a substantial and sudden displacement of material into a body of water. Megatsunamis have different features from ordinary tsunamis. Ordinary tsunamis are caused by underwater tectonic activi ...

that could destroy the village of Geiranger. For this reason, sirens have been installed to warn residents if a landslide should occur.

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was . The suffix (which means "

") is a common element in Norwegian place names (such as

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is ...

and Varanger). The first element could be the plural

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

of the

word (which means "a piece of land" or "a field in a mountain side") which is related to the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

word (meaning a "spear-shaped piece of land"). This would then refer to the several small farms and fields lying in the steep mountain sides around the fjord (such as Knivsflå and

Skageflå Skageflå is one of a handful of historic mountain farms on the steep mountainsides along the Geirangerfjorden. It is located in Stranda Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Skageflå lies approximately above the fjord. The farm is a ...

Tourism

This third biggest

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

port in Norway, Geiranger receives 140 to 180 ships during the four-month tourist season. In 2012 some 300,000 cruise passengers visited Geiranger during the summer season. The Geiranger Port has a cruise terminal, a Seawalk, and 3–4 anchor positions depending on the size of the ships. Constructed in 2013, the Seawalk is a three-segment articulated floating pier. It is long and wide on 10 pontoons, which moves (like a floatable jetwalk) to accommodate up to 4,000 passengers per hour disembarking from a single ship. Several hundred thousand people pass through the village every summer, and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is the main business for the 250 people who live there permanently. There are four hotels and over ten camping sites. The tourist season stretches from May to early September. Tours of the nearby historic farms of Knivsflå and

are available from Geiranger. The Seven Sisters waterfall is located just west of Geiranger, directly across another waterfall called "The Suitor." Each year in June, the Geiranger – From Fjord to Summit event occurs. It comprises a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

run and a bicycle race, both starting from the sea level at the fjord and ending at the summit of Mount Dalsnibba, near the lake Djupvatnet. Since there is still a lot of snow left in the mountains at that time of year, the race is also called "From Summer to Winter". Nearest airport is Ørsta-Volda Airport, Hovden around 1 hour and 50 min away.

Media gallery

Sevensisters.jpg, The seven sisters waterfall over Geirangerfjord Geiranger von der Adlerstrasse.jpg, View of the village of Geiranger Cascadas Storfossen, Geiranger, Noruega, 2019-09-07, DD 99-104 PAN.jpg, Storfossen falls in Geiranger Geiranger, Noruega, 2019-09-07, DD 50.jpg, Fishermen houses Geiranger, Noruega, 2019-09-07, DD 44.jpg, Cabins around Geiranger Fiordo de Geiranger, Noruega, 2019-09-07, DD 45-48 PAN.jpg, View of the Geirangerfjord Geirangerfjord_2.jpg, The coastal express passes the old fjord farm Lundaneset Flydalsjuvet_Geiranger.jpg, View of the fjord and of Geiranger from Flydalsjuvet Seawalk, Geiranger, Noruega, 2019-09-07, DD 51.jpg, Geiranger movable Seawalk on pontoons

In popular culture

* Released in August 2015, ''The Wave'' () is a Norwegian disaster movie based on the premise of a rock slide from the mountain Åkerneset inundating the town of Geiranger. A sequel,'' The Quake'' () was released in 2018.

Name

Tourism

Media gallery

In popular culture

References

External links