An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the ocean. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port, which is an inland extension of a seaport, usually connected by rail to the docks. This article only covers ports under the first definition.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers publishes a list of such locations and for this purpose states that "inland ports" are ports that are located on rivers and do not handle deep draft ship traffic. The list includes familiar ports such as St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Memphis. A dense network of inland waterways including ports exists also in Europe (France, Germany, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom and the Benelux countries), as well as in China and Brazil.