Tromsø (Northern Sami: Romsa, Kven: Tromssa) is a municipality in
Troms and Finnmark counties. Tromsø municipality is the most
populous municipality in northern Norway and the ninth largest
municipality in Norway.
In the municipal center, the city of
Tromsø, is the seat of Troms and Finnmark counties, of the bishop of
Nord-Hålogaland diocese, of the Arctic Council and the University of
Tromsø. Tromsø belongs to Troms police district, Nord-Troms district
court and Hålogaland court of appeal.
Tromsø municipality had
76,975 inhabitants as of 1.1.2020. The central urban area consists
of several Statistics Norway-defined settlements. Tromsø settlement
on Tromsøya had 40,926 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020, Tromsdalen
17,495 inhabitants, Kvaløysletta 8,951 inhabitants. In addition, the
smaller settlements Kjosen (377), Fagernes (287) and Movik (356) are
also included in the urban area, which as of 1 January 2017 had
65,461 inhabitants.
The city's largest workplaces are UiT
Norway's Arctic University (UiT) and the University Hospital of
Northern Norway. The front center was established on 29 September
2010 and houses, among other things, the Norwegian Polar Institute,
which is headquartered in Tromsø. The Northern Lights Observatory
was established in 1928, and two companies affiliated with the
Kongsberg Group that download satellite data from space on behalf of
Norway and abroad. The fishing industry is of great importance. The
Norwegian Raw Fish Association and the Norwegian Seafood Council are
headquartered in Tromsø. SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge also has its
headquarters in the city. Furthermore, Tax North and several smaller
institutions are located in Tromsø.
Tromsø is a distinct
service municipality with just over 3/4 of the municipality's
employed employees in public and private services or business
activities.
Tromsø municipality received its current extent
on 1 January 2008 when the southern part of Reinøya was transferred
to Karlsøy municipality. The biggest change took place on 1 January
1964 when the city municipality was merged with the neighboring
municipalities Tromsøysund, the Kvaløy part of Hillesøy (Senja part
to Lenvik) and most of Ullsfjord (Svensby area to Lyngen). The
Tromsø region consists of the municipalities of Tromsø and Karlsøy,
and since 2003 has been one of 16 urban regions in Norway. The
Tromsø region has 75,762 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. Since
2010, the municipalities of Tromsø, Karlsøy and Balsfjord are part
of the Tromsø area's regional council.