Tromsø / Norway

Tromsø ; Northern Sami: Romsa; Kven: Tromssa, Swedish: Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The 2,521-square-kilometre municipality is the 21st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Tromsø is the 12th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 76,974. The municipality's population density is 31.1 inhabitants per square kilometre and its population has increased by 14.4% over the previous 10-year period. It is the largest urban area in Northern Norway and the third largest north of the Arctic Circle anywhere in the world . Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the island of Tromsøya, 350 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. In 2017, the city of Tromsø had a population of about 65,000 people spread out over Tromsøya and parts of Kvaløya and the mainland. Tromsøya is connected to the mainland by the Tromsø Bridge and the Tromsøysund Tunnel, and to the island of Kvaløya by the Sandnessund Bridge. The municipality is warmer than most settlements on the same latitude, even milder than places much further south on Hudson Bay in Canada and in Far East Russia, due to the effect of the Gulf Stream, whose warm-water current allows for both relatively mild winters and tree growth in spite of its high latitude. The maritime proximity renders low air pressure leading to a lot of snow accumulation in winter. The city centre contains the highest number of old wooden houses in Northern Norway, the oldest dating from 1789. Tromsø is a cultural hub for the region, with several festivals taking place in the summer. Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge of the electronica duo Röyksopp and Lene Marlin grew up and started their careers in Tromsø. Noted electronic musician Geir Jenssen also hails from Tromsø.