Everything about Troms totally explained
(
Romsa in
Northern Sami,
Tromssa in
Finnish) is a city and
municipality in the
county of
Troms,
Norway.
The area has been inhabited since the end of the
ice age, and the
Sámi culture is the first known culture of the region. Speakers of
Norse, the ancestor of
Norwegian brought their culture to the area during the migrations of the Vikings before AD 890, when
Ohthere's settlement existed to the south of today's Tromsø. The first church on the island of Tromsøya was erected in the 13th century, and the area one of Denmark-Norway's very northernmost territories not contested by
Russia. During the 1600s, Denmark-Norway solidified its claim to the northern coast of Scandinavia and during this period a
redoubt,
Skansen, was built. Tromsø was issued its city charter in 1794 by King Christian VII. The city was established as a municipality
January 1,
1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of
Tromsøysund and
Ullsfjord, and most of
Hillesøy, were merged with Tromsø
January 1,
1964. The population of Tromsø municipality is 63,596, and the urban area, Norway's ninth most populous, is home to 53,622 people.
Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the small island of
Tromsøya in the county of
Troms, 350 km (217
mi) inside the
arctic circle. The island is connected to the mainland by the
Tromsø Bridge and the
Tromsøysund Tunnel, and to the island of
Kvaløya by the
Sandnessund Bridge. The city is warmer than most other places located on the same latitude, due to the warming effect of the
Gulf Stream, with an average January temperature of -4 °C. Tromsø is still quite cool in the summer, with a 24-hour average of 12 °C and average daily high of 15°C in July.
The city centre of Tromsø contains the highest number of old wooden houses in
North Norway, the oldest house dating from 1789. The
Arctic Cathedral, a modern church from 1965, is probably the most famous landmark in Tromsø. The city is a cultural centre for its region, several festivals taking place in the summer. The largest
football team in the city,
Tromsø I.L, plays in the
Norwegian Premier League.
History
The area was first settled at the end of the
ice age. The
Sámi culture is indigenous to the region, but the
Norse culture arrived quite early on the scene - sometime in the early
Medieval Age. The first church,
Ecclesia Sanctae Mariae de Trums juxta paganos ("The Church of Saint Mary in Troms near the Heathens"), was built in 1252 during the reign of
king Hákon Hákonarson. At the time, it was the northernmost church in the world. Around the same time, a turf
rampart was built to protect the area against raids from
Karelia and
Russia.
Despite only being home to around 80 people, Tromsø was issued its city charter in 1794. However, the city quickly rose in importance. The
diocese of Hålogaland was created in 1804, with the first bishop being Mathias Bonsach Krogh. A teacher training college and the first shipyard were established in 1848, followed by the predecessor of the
University of Tromsø, the
Tromsø Museum, in 1872, and the
Mack Brewery in 1877.
In the 19th century, Tromsø was known as the "Paris of the North", probably because people in Tromsø appeared as far more civilized than expected to foreign tourists.
Arctic hunting, from
Novaya Zemlya to
Canada, started up around 1820. By 1850, Tromsø was the major center of Arctic hunting, overtaking the former center of
Hammerfest, and the city was trading from
Arkhangelsk to
Bordeaux. By the end of the 19th century, Tromsø had become a major
Arctic trade center from which many Arctic expeditions originated. Explorers like
Roald Amundsen,
Umberto Nobile and
Fridtjof Nansen made use of the know-how in Tromsø on the conditions in the Arctic, and often recruited their crew in the city. The
Northern lights observatory was founded in 1927.
During
World War II, it served briefly as the seat of Norwegian government. However, the city escaped the war without any damage, although the
German battleship Tirpitz was sunk off the Tromsøy island on
November 12,
1944, when close to 1,000 German soldiers died. At the end of the war, the city received thousands of refugees from the
Finnmark province, which was evacuated and devastated by German forces at the time in expectation of the
Red Army offensive.
Expansion after World War II has been rapid. The population growth has been strong, some years more than 1,000 people. The present municipal borders were created through the merger of Tromsø,
Hillesøy,
Tromsøysund and most of
Ullsfjord in 1964, almost tripling the population from 12,430 to 32,664.
Tromsø Airport opened in 1964, the
University of Tromsø in 1972 and the
Norwegian Polar Institute was relocated to Tromsø from
Oslo in 1998.
Name and coat-of-arms
Tromsø is named after the island of
Tromsøya, which it's situated on. While the last element of the city's name comes from Danish
ø 'island' (
Norwegian:
øy, finite form
øya), the etymology of the first element is uncertain. Several theories exist. One theory holds "Troms-" to derive from the old (uncompounded) name of the island (
Norse Trums). Several islands and rivers in Norway have the name
Tromsa, and the names of these are probably derived from the word
straumr '(strong) stream'. (The original form must then have been
*Strums, for the missing
s see
Indo-European s-mobile.) Another theory holds that Tromsøya was originally called
Lille Tromsøya (Little Tromsøya), because of its proximity to the much bigger island today called
Kvaløya, that according to this theory was earlier called "Store Tromsøya" due to a characteristic mountain known as
Tromma (the Drum). The mountain's name in
Sámi language,
Rumbbučohkka, is identical in meaning, and it's said to have been a sacred mountain for the Sámi in pre-Christian times.
The Sámi name of the island,
Romsa, is assumed to be a loan from Norse - but according to the phonetical rules of the Sami language the frontal
t has disappeared from the name. However, an alternative form -
Tromsa - is in informal use. There is a theory that holds the Norwegian name of Tromsø derives from the Sámi name, though this theory lacks an explanation for the meaning of
Romsa. A common misunderstanding is that Tromsø's Sámi name is
Romssa with a double "s". This, however, is the accusative and genitive form of the noun - used when f. ex. writing "Tromsø Municipality" (Roms
sa Suohkan).
The original
reindeer coat-of-arms design is from 1870. The current version was created by Hallvard Trætteberg (1898–1987) and was adopted in 1941. Tromsø's coat-of-arms is one of six Norwegian coat-of-arms showing reindeer or their
antlers, the other five being those of
Eidfjord,
Porsanger,
Rendalen,
Vadsø and
Vågå.
Geography
Tromsø is the eight-largest municipality in Norway with a population 63,596, and the centre of the ninth-largest
urban area, with a population of 53,622.
The city center is located on the east side of the
Tromsøya — over 300 km inside the
Arctic Circle at . Suburban areas include
Kroken,
Tromsdalen (on the mainland, east of the Tromsøya island), the rest of the Tromsøya island, and the eastern part of the large
Kvaløya, west of the Tromsøya Island.
Tromsø Bridge and a four laned road tunnel connects the mainland with Tromsøya by road, and, on the western side of the city,
Sandnessund Bridge connects Tromsøya island with Kvaløya island.
Climate
Tromsø has a reputation in Norway for getting a lot of
snow in the winter, although this varies a lot from one year to the next. The all-time record was set
April 29,
1997, when the meteorological station on top of Tromsøya recorded 240 cm of snow. The lowest temperature ever recorded is –18.4 °C, and the January average is a mere –4 °C. This is due to the warming effects of the
North Atlantic Current, an extension of the
Gulf Stream. The proximity to the sea moderates temperatures;
Sommarøy, on the west coast of Kvaløya, has January average of –1.9 °C. Summer is rather cool, with a July 24-hour average of 12 °C; daytime temperatures are usually slightly warmer, but vary from 9 to 25 °C. In the summer of 1972, which is the warmest in the record, (mean temperature of 12.9°C) the temperature reached 30 °C (
[1]). The warmest year on record is 2005, with a mean temperature of 4.38°C, compared to the current annual average of about 3.5°C.
Light and darkness
The geographical location some 350 km (220 mi.) north of the Arctic Circle means that Tromsø has both midnight sun and
polar night.
The
Midnight sun is above the northern horizon from about
May 18 to
July 26, although the mountains in the north block the view to the Midnight sun a few days, meaning that you can optically see the sun from about
May 21 to
July 21. Due to the position on top of the globe, the twilight is longer, meaning there's no real darkness between late April and mid August.
The sun remains below the horizon from about
November 26 to
January 15, but due to the mountains the sun is absent from the center from
November 21 to
January 21. The return of the sun is an occasion for celebration. Due to the twilight, there's some daylight for a couple of hours even around midwinter, often with beautiful bluish light. The nights shorten quickly, and by
February 21 the sun is above the horizon from 07:45 to 16:10, and
April 1 from 05:50 to 19:50 (summertime).
The combination of snow cover and sunshine often creates intense light conditions from late February until the snow melts in the lowland (usually late April), and
sunglasses are essential when
skiing. Because of these diametrically different light conditions in winter, Norwegians often divide it into two seasons:
Mørketid (the dark time) and
Seinvinter (late winter).
Tromsø is in the middle of the
Aurora Borealis (northern lights) zone, and is in fact one of the best places in the world to observe this phenomenon. Because of the planet's rotation, Tromsø moves into the aurora zone around 6 pm, and moves out again around midnight. Due to the light, no aurora is visible between late April and mid August.
Cityscape
The compact city center is the biggest concentration of historic wooden houses north of
Trondheim, that co-exist with modern architecture. The houses date from 1789 to 1904, when building wooden houses was banned in the city centre, like in several other Norwegian cities. The oldest house in Tromsø is
Skansen, built in 1789 on the remains of a 13th century turf
rampart.
The Polar Museum, situated in a wharf house from 1837, presents Tromsø's past as a center for Arctic hunting and starting point for
polar expeditions. The
Tromsø Cathedral, Norway's only wooden cathedral, built in 1861, is located in the middle of the city, and so is the small Catholic church
Vår Frue. Norway's oldest
cinema is still in use,
Verdensteatret, was built in 1915-16. The cinema has large wall paintings, made by the local artist
Sverre Mack in 1921, that picture scenes from Norwegian folk lore and fairy tales.
The
Arctic Cathedral, a modern church from 1965, is situated on the mainland, facing the sound and city centre. The church, in reality a parish church and not a
cathedral, was drawn by Jan Inge Hovig and is probably the most famous landmark in Tromsø. The aquarium and experience center
Polaria from 1998 is a short walk south from the city center. The
Tromsø Museum is a university museum, presenting culture and nature of
North Norway. The museum also displays the
Arctic-alpine botanic garden, the world's northernmost botanical garden. A cable car goes up to mount
Storsteinen, 421 metres above sea level, with a panoramic view over Tromsø. The mountain
Tromsdalstinden, 1238 m, on the mainland, which is easily spotted from the city center, is also a major landmark. On top of Tromsøya is lake
Prestvannet.
Governance
The highest political body is the City Council (
Bystyret), which elects a governing body, the
Formannskap and five political committees. There is a discussion of whether to introduce city
parliamentarism, as practiced in
Oslo and
Bergen. The
Labour Party (AP), the
Liberal Party (V), the
Conservative Party (H) and the
Progress Party (FrP) are advocating this political system, while the
Socialist Left Party (SV) is opposing it.
The largest political party is the
Labour Party. Although the Labour Party is led by
Roger Ingebrigtsen, Labour's
Arild Hausberg is mayor. The vice-mayor is
Gunhild Johansen, from the Socialist Left Party.
Demographics
More than 100 nationalities are represented in the population, among the more prominent minorities are the
Sami,
Russians, and
Finns, both the local
Kvens and immigrants from Finland proper. The world's northernmost
mosque is to be found in Tromsø. The Our Lady Catholic church is the seat of the world's northernmost
Catholic Bishop, although the Catholic population is only 350 heads strong — it's in this context interesting to note that Pope
John Paul II visited this small church and stayed as a guest of the bishop in 1989.
Sami population
The Sami minority is making itself felt, and there's a Sami kindergarten and Sami language classes in school. Sami was once spoken in communities throughout Tromsø, but use of the language declined during the 1900s' "Norwegianization" campaign. There are attempts to counter this trend, for example through the establishment of a
Sami language center in
Ullsfjord. Most Sami speakers in Tromsø migrated there from other Sami-speaking areas of the North.
Culture
Being the largest city in
North Norway, Tromsø is a cultural centre for its region. It gained some international attention when it on
June 11,
2005 hosted one of six
46664 concerts, designed to put work concerning
HIV/
AIDS on the international agenda. The concert was promoted by
Nelson Mandela, whose prison number provided the arrangement's name, and featured international and local artists.
The combined capacity of
clubs,
pubs, and
bars is of more than 20,000 people, meaning that one out of three can go out at the same time.
Rorbua achieved national fame when hosting the popular
TV show Du skal høre mye, which ran for sixteen years, making it one of the most seen entertainment shows in the history of the
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
Many cultural activities take place in Kulturhuset (
English: lit.
the culture house), including concerts by
Tromsø Symphony Orchestra and plays by Tromsø's professional
theater troupe,
Hålogaland Teater. The new theater building was opened in November 2005. The city contains several museums. The largest are the Northern Norwegian Art Gallery (
Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum) and the Tromsø Gallery of Contemporary Art (
Tromsø Kunstforening).
Tromsø was a leading city at the early stages of the
house and
techno scene in Norway from the last part of the 1980s. Local artists such as
Bel Canto,
Biosphere,
Mental Overdrive, Ismistik/
Bjørn Torske,
Aedena Cycle,
Y.B.U., Open Skies,
Alanïa,
Those Norwegians,
Phonophani,
Lene Marlin, Drum Island and lately
Röyksopp have all made their marks internationally. The
Insomnia Festival pays tribute to this and seeks to profile relevant electronic music.
The local newspapers are
Bladet Tromsø and
Nordlys.
Festivals and celebrations
Both the
Tromsø International Film Festival and
Nordlysfestivalen (lit.
the Aurora Festival), a classical music festival, are arranged in January. The end of that month is marked by the
Day of the Sun (Soldagen), when the sun finally appearing above the horizon after the
polar night is celebrated, mainly by children. The
International Day of the Sami People is celebrated at the
University of Tromsø and the city hall on February 6 every year. Tromsø's Latin American Festival,
No Siesta Fiesta, is held at the end of February. It started in 2007 and showcases the best of "Latin America" in Northern Norway with film, dance, music, art, seminars, debates, markets, and a street Samba parade.
The
Bukta Tromsø Open Air Festival, held in June and July, is a popular music festival that started three years ago as a merger between the smaller non-profit festival "North of Nowhere" and the "Fucking North Pole Punk Rock Festival". The Bukta festival is mainly a rock festival, but also features other kinds of modern music. The festival takes place in Telegrafbukta, a park on the south-western part of the Tromsøya island. Other popular cultural summer events among the population of Tromsø is the
Karlsøy festival and the
Riddu Riddu festival, both held in the region surrounding the city.
Sports
Tromsø is the home of many football (soccer) clubs, of which the three most prominent are
Tromsø IL, which plays in the
Norwegian Premier League and is the world's
northermost Premier League football team,
I.F. Fløya in the
Norwegian Premier League for women, and
Tromsdalen U.I.L., playing in the
Adeccoliga.
Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon is arranged every year in June and recently also a
Polar Night Half marathon in January. The city is home to many clubs in the top division in various sports. Most notably
basketball-outfit
Tromsø Storm in the
BLNO,
BK Tromsø in the top
volleyball league for men, and
Tromsø Volley in the top volleyball league for women.
Tromsø has been selected by the Norwegian National Olympic Committee as Norway's candidate for the
2018 Winter Olympics. This would make Tromsø the first city north of the
Arctic Circle to host the games. There are plans to use ships as the media village. As of March 2007, the Norwegian government still has yet to officially support Tromsø's bid. From the southern to the northern tip of the island
Tromsøya, there's a floodlit
cross country ski track. A
ski jump is also situated on the island, close to the university.
Tromsø is also famous for eliminating
Galatasaray SK of
Turkey from the
UEFA Cup in 2005.
Famous residents
» See also: (category)
In popular culture
In the
vampire thriller
30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead by
Steve Niles and
Jeff Mariotte (Pocket Books 2006), an
FBI agent learns that Tromso was depopulated in the winter of 1842, perhaps due to a mass vampire attack.
Norwegian director
Erik Skjoldbjærgs debut movie
Insomnia takes place in Tromsø.
Twin towns
Tromsø has eleven
twin towns:
Kemi (
Finland, since 1940)
Luleå (Sweden, 1950)
Ringkøbing (Denmark, 1950)
Grimsby (United Kingdom, 1961)
Pune (India, 1966)
Anchorage (United States, 1969)
|col2=
Zagreb (Croatia, 1971)
Murmansk (Russia, 1972)
Quetzaltenango (Guatemala, 1999)
Gaza (Palestine, 2001)
Nadym (Russia, 2008)
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