Tromsø is a city and municipality in the county of Troms, Norway. The municipality of Tromsø covers large districts outside the town.

Tromsø is the seventh largest city in Norway by population, and is home of the world's northernmost university, University of Tromsø.

The city is located on the Tromsøy island — above the Arctic Circle at .

The Midnight sun is visible in Tromsø from about May 18 to July 26. On the other hand, the sun remains below the horizon from about November 26 to January 15. However, the city is surrounded by mountains, meaning that in reality the Midnight Sun is visible from about May 21 to July 21, and the dark period is about from November 21 to January 21. The return of the sun is an occasion for celebration.

Contents

1 History 2 Culture 3 Twin towns 4 External links

History

The first church was built in 1252, and was then the world's northernmost church, called Sancta Maria juxta paganos, or "Saint Mary's close to the pagans".

Tromsø was issued its city charter in 1794, by then only around 80 people lived there. During the 19th century the city rose in importance, with the establishment of a bishop's seat (1834), a teacher training college (1848), a shipyard (1848), the Tromsø Museum (1872) and the Mack brewery (1877).

Arctic hunting, from Novaya Zemlya to Canada, started up around 1820. By 1850 Tromsø was the major centre of Arctic hunting, overtaking the former centre of Hammerfest. By the end of the 19th century, Tromsø had become a major Arctic trade centre from which many Arctic expeditions originated. 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 1000 German soldiers died.

Expansion after World War II has been rapid. The airport opened in 1964, the University of Tromsø in 1972 and the Norwegian Polar Institute was relocated to Tromsø in 1998.

The population growth has been strong, some years more than 1000 people; in 1964 the present municipal borders were created through unification of several boroughs. Then the city had some 32 000 inhabitants, practically doubled today at 62 000. At present the growth is slowing slightly.

Culture

Tromsø is the home of two football clubs: Tromsø I.L., which plays in the Norwegian Premier League; and Tromsdalen U.I.L., playing in the second division (2005).

Most cultural activities take place in the Kulturhuset (The culture house), including concerts by Tromsø's symphony orchestra (Tromsø Symfoniorkester) and plays by Tromsø's professional theatre troupe Hålogaland Teater . A new theatre building is under construction, and is due to open in November 2005. There is also the Northern Norwegian Art Gallery (Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum) as well as the Tromsø Gallery of Contemporary Art (Tromsø Kunstforening). January is the main season for cultural events, with both the Tromsø International Film Festival and the Northern Lights Festival of Music (Nordlysfestivalen).

The city centre is the biggest concentration of historic wooden houses north of Trondheim. A multitude of houses dating from 1789 to 1904 (when building wooden houses was banned in the city centre), co-exist with modern architecture. Landmarks include the Tromsø Cathedral (Norway's only wooden cathedral, built in 1861), the Arctic Cathedral (a striking modern church from 1965) and the Polaria aquarium and experience centre from 1998. Norways oldest cinema still in use, Verdensteatret built 1915-16, lies in Tromsø and is featured with large wall paintings, picturing scenes from Norwegian folk lore and fairy tales, made by the local artist Sverre Mack in 1921.

Famous people who come from the city include:

• Geir Jenssen, musician
• Peter Wessel Zapffe, author and philosopher
• Erik Skjoldbjaerg , director
• Jorgen Dreyer , sculptor
• Einar Hoidale, lawyer and democrat, US Congressman
• Lene Marlin, pop-music artist
• Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland musicians in the electronic music genre

The local newspapers are named Bladet Tromsø and Nordlys.

Tromsø was the starting point of many expeditions to the Arctic, and explorers like Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Fridtjof Nansen made use of the know-how in Tromsø on the conditions in the Arctic, and also recruited their crew in the city.

The city hosts Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon every year in June. Recently, it has also started hosting a Polar Night Half marathon in January.

The local brewery is the Mack Brewery

Twin towns

Tromsø has ten twin towns:

• Kemi (Finland, since 1940)
• Luleå (Sweden, 1950)
• Ringkøbing (Denmark, 1950)
• Grimsby (United Kingdom, 1961)
• Poona (India, 1966)
• Anchorage (Alaska, USA, 1969)
• Zagreb (Croatia, 1971)
• Murmansk (Russia, 1972)
• Quetzaltenango (Guatemala, 1999)
• Gaza (Palestine, 2001)

External links

• Tromsø 2014 - Olympic bid official site