Tromsø is the largest city in Northern Europe, located above the Arctic Circle. It is home to the world"s northernmost university, brewery and cathedral. The main areas of activity in the city are education, administration, research and development, export of fish products and development of satellite technologies. The population of the municipality of the same name (its area is 2,558 km²) is 67,305 inhabitants, 50,000 of whom live in the administrative center – Tromsø.
Settlements on the territory of present-day Tromsø have existed since the end of the Ice Age. The first tribes settled in the territories of Tromsø and Lyngen about 10,000 years ago, the culture of the Sami living here is already about 2,000. The period of the appearance of the Scandinavian language and culture here is considered to be 300-400 years. AD At the beginning of the 18th century, Finnish immigration to Lyngen began. At the beginning of the 20th century, the "Norwegianization" of Tromsø and Lyngen, which until that time were considered Sami and Finnish territories, began; in the 1960s, active migration of residents from these areas began.
Tromsø was founded in 1794, although the first church was built in 1252. In the middle of the 19th century, Tromsø became a marine fishing industry in the Arctic, and at the beginning of the 20th century, it became a starting point for expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Sufficiently cold winters and short summers make it possible to classify the local climate as subarctic. At the same time, the weather conditions, the level and nature of atmospheric precipitation (their maximum amount occurs in the autumn period and the beginning of winter), as well as the absence of permafrost are not typical for subarctic zones. The local winter is characterized by a large amount of snow, but this figure varies from year to year. Due to the warm current of the Gulf Stream, the average temperature is higher than in other cities located at the same latitude.
In winter, you can observe the Northern Lights here – the result of charged solar particles from the solar wind entering the upper atmosphere in the region of the North Pole, the magnetic field of which attracts charged particles. When solar particles collide with the upper atmosphere, the atoms and molecules of gases that make up it are excited. Their radiation is observed as aurora borealis.
There are more wooden buildings in the center of Tromsø than in any other city in Northern Norway. The oldest building was built in 1789. The Arctic Cathedral, a modernist Lutheran church built in 1965, is perhaps the city"s most famous landmark. Tromsø is the cultural center of the entire region. In summer, the city becomes a venue for various festivals. One of the main events in the cultural life of Tromsø can be considered the performances of the Arctic Symphony Orchestra and the Hålogaland Teater, a new building for which was built in 2005. The city also has several museums. The largest are the Museum of Art of Northern Norway (Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum) and the Tromsø Kunstforening Gallery of Contemporary Art.
The highest authority is the Municipal Council (commune government), which elects from among its members a steering committee ("formannscap") and five political committees. The largest party is the Labor Party.
