Land-locked harbour
Topic: International Trade: Patterns, Ports and the WTO · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 8 "International Trade"
Meaning
A land-locked harbour is almost completely enclosed by land and is joined to the sea only by a narrow channel. Because land surrounds it, waves and storms hardly reach the ships inside. This gives very safe anchorage, which is why such harbours are valuable for trade and for navies.
Example
Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, on India's east coast, is India's land-locked harbour. Ships reach it through a channel cut through solid rock and sand. In the world, San Francisco in the USA is the largest land-locked harbour.
Don't confuse with
- Inland port: a port far from the coast, reached by a river or canal, such as Kolkata on the Hugli. A land-locked harbour is still on the coast, only shielded by land around it.