Geologically, a fjord (British English: /fjɔːd/, /fɪɔːd/; American English: /fɪɔɹd/, rare: /fj-/; Australian English: /fɪ̝oːd/; Norwegian Bokmål and Nynorsk: /fjɔr/, /-ɔɾ/, dialectal: /-ɔʁ/) (variant spelling: fiord, especially in New Zealand) is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion. The word comes to English from Norwegian, in many cases to refer to any long narrow body of water other than the more specific meaning it has in English. There are many fjords on the coasts of Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, Kerguelen Islands, British Columbia, Nunavut, Washington and Chile. The Norwegian definition of “fjord” differs from that of English – in Norwegian “fjord” refers to any inlet or channel (see Oslofjord).
