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... Tromsø was founded in 1794, although the first church
was built here back in 1252. In the 1850s, Tromsø became the
centre for Polar sea catches in the Arctic region ...
At a latitude of nearly 70 degrees north, four days’ sailing
from Bergen and barely a two-hour flight from Oslo, Murmansk
or Longyearbyen, at the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia,
between the island landscape, fiords and mountain peaks, you
find Tromsø – Gateway to the Arctic and capital
of Northern Norway. As far back as a century ago, visitors
were surprised to find culture, intellectual life and the
current fashions so far north, and the city derived the name
Paris of the North. That reputation lives on today as visitors
to Tromsø are charmed by the city’s patriotic and
obliging residents, by a historical, compact and
characteristic city centre, by a lively and active cultural
life all year round, by the Northern Lights, Polar Nights,
Midnight Sun, by the exciting attractions, good
possibilities for excursions and widely varying weather.
The experience will be complete if you venture outside the
city and visit the 1800m high Lyngen Alps to the east, go on
a voyage of discovery out towards the Atlantic Ocean,
experience fertile agricultural villages beneath steep
mountains and learn more about Norwegian and Saami culture
and that of the residents of Finnish origin.
Key Facts
Tromsø is the largest city in the Nordic countries north of
the Arctic Circle and is home to the world’s northernmost
university, brewery and cathedral. The city thrives on
education, research, administration, fishing exports and
satellite technology. The centre of the north has about 65000
residents and the Municipality of Tromsø covers an area of
2558 km². Around 50,000 live in the centre of Tromsø, while
the remainder is scattered throughout the whole
municipality.
The Municipality of Lyngen has around 3200 residents, and
covers an area of 810 km² on the mountain-rich Lyngen
Peninsula. The outermost villages survive on fishing, while
agriculture is important throughout the entire municipality.
Successful, modern industry is located at Furuflaten at the
very end of the Lyngen Fiord. The population has Norwegian,
Saami and Finnish origins.
History
Human settlement in Tromsø and Lyngen dates back around
10,000 years, while the Saami culture here goes back at
least 2000 years. Scandinavian language and culture could be
found here from 300-400 AD, and Lyngen experienced
immigration from Finland as early as the 1700s. A strong
Norwegianising of the formerly Saami and Finnish areas of
Tromsø and Lyngen started around 1900, and from the 1960s a
high level of moving from the districts began.
Tromsø was founded in 1794, although the first church was
built here back in 1252. In the 1850s, Tromsø became the
centre for Polar sea catches in the Arctic region, while in
the early 1900s the city was the starting point for a host
of expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions,
something
that gave the city the nickname Gateway to the Arctic. In
1940, Tromsø was capital of the non-occupied Norway for a
few weeks, but totally avoided war damage as the only city
in Northern Norway. In the years after 1960, Tromsø has
experienced an exceptional growth in population, which is in
part due to the establishment of institutions like the
University of Tromsø and the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Climate, Midnight Sun and the Polar Nights
In spite of their location so far north, Tromsø and Lyngen
both enjoy a moderately insular climate. Summer weather ranges
from five degrees Celsius and rain to 28 degrees and
fantastic swimming conditions for the undaunted. Winter in
Tromsø is not especially cold. The record low temperature in
Tromsø is minus18 degrees Celsius, while the average January
temperature is minus four, but in return there is often a
lot of snow.
The Midnight Sun is visible from around May 21 to around
July 21. Between November 21 and January 21, the sun
disappears under the horizon and we experience the Polar
Nights. It is not completely dark during the middle of the
day, and the light and colour in the sky is amazing when the
weather is favourable.
Northern Lights
The Northern Lights are particles that are hurled into space
after storms on the sun’s surface. They are attracted by the
magnetic North Pole, and enter the atmosphere in a ring-like
zone around the pole. In a process that is identical to that
inside a light tube, the energy is released as light.
Tromsø is situated right in the centre of the Northern
Lights zone and is, therefore, together with the interior
ice in Greenland and the tundra in northern Canada, among the
best places on earth to observe this phenomenon. Most of the
Northern Lights outbursts visible from Tromsø are green, but
large outbursts can also include other colours.
In order to see the Northern Lights, it must be dark and
clear – the reason that we never see the Northern Lights
between May and August. The greatest frequency is between
6pm and 2am. Some visitors prefer to see the performance
from a mountain top shielded from the city’s lights, while
others are just as impressed right in the city centre.
Student City Tromsø
Student City Tromsø with its 10,000
students, is an exciting place to study. The University of
Tromsø and Tromsø University College offer a wide variety of
study options in a number of different subject areas. But
student activity does not just comprise lectures, study
groups, studying and examinations. You need a place to live,
food, recreational activities and opportunities to get to
know fellow students. The Student Welfare Association offers
housing, operates cafés at the educational Institutes,
childcare facilities, bookshops, a student centre (Driv), a
student sports hall (Kraft) and its own counselling service.
"Studentbyen Tromsø" offers much more, including
a teeming cultural and nightlife.
To read more about Tromsø, go to
The Arctic Gateway
and
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