City Europe
Tromsø
Tromsø is a town in the far north of Norway. It is on an island, with a long bridge to the land.
Tromsø is a port town in northern Norway, built on the island of Tromsøya and linked to the mainland by a long bridge. Store norske leksikon says the town on the island had 40,979 people in 2021; an estimate for the start of 2026 gives the whole municipality 79,943.
Tromsø, port of northern Norway on an island in the Tromsø fjord area (Larousse), is the administrative center of Tromsø municipality; its urban settlement on Tromsøya had 40,979 inhabitants in 2021 (Store norske leksikon, Statistics Norway definition); the municipality had an estimated 79,943 on 1 January 2026 (City Population, from Statistics Norway). Town rights 1794.
Photo: JoachimKohlerBremen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Tromsø
Tromsø is a town far in the north of Norway.
The town is on an island. A long bridge goes over the water to the land.
Tromsø is a port town in northern Norway. Its center is on the island of Tromsøya, and the Tromsø Bridge, opened in 1960, crosses the strait to the mainland.
Store norske leksikon, the Norwegian encyclopedia, counts 40,979 people in the town on the island in 2021. The whole municipality, which takes in other islands and parts of the mainland, had an estimated 79,943 people at the start of 2026; in 2024 it was the most populous municipality in northern Norway.
Larousse: port of northern Norway on an island; observatory, polar museum, agricultural research, fishing and canning, shipbuilding, university. Store norske leksikon: the urban settlement (tettsted) covers the built-up areas on Tromsøya, 40,979 inhabitants (2021), about 53% of the municipality; seven other settlements lie on the mainland and other islands; the municipality was the 12th most populous in Norway and the most populous in northern Norway (2024). City Population (Statistics Norway): municipality 79,943 (estimate, 1 January 2026). Store norske leksikon's settlement table (Statistics Norway definition, 2025) gives the Tromsø settlement 43,368, about 55% of the municipality.
- Country
- Norway; a port in the north (Larousse)
- People in the town on Tromsøya (2021)
- 40,979 (Store norske leksikon)
- People in Tromsø municipality (estimate, 1 January 2026)
- 79,943
- Town rights
- 1794 (Store norske leksikon)
A bridge, a cable car and a museum
A long bridge goes from the island to the land.
A cable car carries people up a mountain to look down on the town!
The Tromsø Bridge crosses the strait between the island and the mainland. It opened in 1960, and Store norske leksikon says that after it opened, more people came to live on the mainland side.
A cable car, Fjellheisen, opened in 1961. The photographer describes this photo as a view from Fjellheisen, taken in June 2015. The town also has Tromsø Museum, founded in 1872, and Larousse mentions a polar museum.
Store norske leksikon: Tromsøbrua (1960) on road 862 and the Tromsøysund tunnel (1994) on the E6 cross the strait; after the bridge opened, the urban share grew markedly in Tromsdalen and other mainland settlements; Fjellheisen (cable car) 1961; Tromsø Museum 1872; the Northern Lights Observatory opened in 1928. Wikidata: Tromsø bridge (Q945944), 0.84 km ENE of the municipality's point; Fjellheisen (Q1422197) 1.51 km SE. Store norske leksikon: Fjellheisen climbs to Fjellstua (421 m) on the slope below Fløya (671 m). Commons: 'Blick vom Fjellheisen auf Tromsø' (view from Fjellheisen, the photographer's description); a category added by another user files it under views from Mount Fløya.
- Tromsø Bridge
- opened in 1960 (Store norske leksikon)
- Cable car (Fjellheisen)
- opened in 1961 (Store norske leksikon)
- Tromsø Museum
- founded in 1872 (Store norske leksikon)
A trading place in the north
Long ago, Tromsø was a small trading place.
Ships came to buy and sell, and the town grew.
Store norske leksikon tells the story of the town. In 1789 free trade came to the region and Tromsø became a customs place, where taxes on goods were collected. In 1794 it got the rights of a market town. When the municipality began in 1837, about 1,400 people lived there.
From the 1820s and 1830s, trips into the Arctic Ocean helped Tromsø grow into a center for the region. In 1893 the first ship of the coastal route Hurtigruten arrived, and in 1972 the University of Tromsø opened.
Store norske leksikon: first trader in Troms mentioned 1536; a Russian trading vessel first came in 1725; free trade introduced and Tromsø made a customs place in 1789; market-town (kjøpstad) rights 1794; seat of the county governor 1814; Arctic Ocean hunting (ishavsfangst) from the 1820s-1830s made the town grow; the municipality began in 1837 with about 1,400 people and merged with neighboring rural municipalities in 1964 (when the airport also opened); first Hurtigruten ship 5 July 1893; university 1972.
- Customs place
- 1789 (Store norske leksikon)
- Town rights
- 1794 (Store norske leksikon)
- People in 1837
- about 1,400 (Store norske leksikon)
Bridges, a tunnel and the coastal ships
The town is on an island. Cars reach it over bridges and through a tunnel.
Tromsø's center is on an island, so bridges and a tunnel link it to the rest of the region. The Tromsø Bridge (1960) and a tunnel (1994) cross the strait to the mainland, and the Sandnessund Bridge (1974) leads to the big island of Kvaløya.
Ships sail through the strait, and the coastal ships of Hurtigruten have called since 1893. Tromsø's airport opened in 1964, and a road along the Balsfjord joined the town to Norway's road network in 1936.
Store norske leksikon: the Tromsøysund strait separates Tromsøya from the mainland and carries the shipping lane; crossed by Tromsøbrua (1960, road 862) and the Tromsøysund tunnel (1994); Sandnessundbrua to Kvaløya 1974; Balsfjord road links Tromsø to the national road network in 1936; first regular seaplane flights from Skattøra in 1938; airport 1964; first Hurtigruten ship 5 July 1893; a parking hall inside the rock under the center opened in 1987.
- To the mainland
- Tromsø Bridge (1960) and the Tromsøysund tunnel (1994) (Store norske leksikon)
- To Kvaløya
- Sandnessund Bridge, opened 1974 (Store norske leksikon)
- Airport
- opened in 1964 (Store norske leksikon)
Cold winters, cool summers
Winter in Tromsø is cold. Summer is cool, not hot.
It rains or snows on many days of the year.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for 1961 to 1990 show January days of about −2 °C and nights of about −6.5 °C. In July, days average about 15 °C and nights about 9 °C.
Rain and snow fall all year, about 1,031 millimeters in all. October is the wettest month, with 131 millimeters, and May the driest, with 48. Store norske leksikon notes a record high of 30.4 °C in 2014.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Tromsø (Norwegian Meteorological Institute; period 1961–1990 as given in the data; precipitation days at least 0.1 mm): mean daily maximum −2.2 °C (Jan) to 15.3 °C (Jul); mean daily minimum −6.5 °C (Jan, Feb) to 8.7 °C (Jul). Precipitation 48 mm (May) to 131 mm (Oct); sum 1,031 mm; 15 (May) to 23 (Sep) days. Store norske leksikon: about 150 years average 1,018 mm; highest 30.4 °C at Holt in 2014; lowest −22 °C in 1910.
- January, average daily high and low (WMO, Tromsø, 1961–1990)
- −2.2 °C and −6.5 °C
- July, average daily high and low (same table)
- 15.3 °C and 8.7 °C
- Precipitation in a year (twelve months added up)
- about 1,031 mm
Fish, research and seabirds
Fishing boats from Tromsø catch lots of fish.
Puffins and sea eagles live nearby!
Fishing matters a lot in Tromsø. In 2024 fishers from the municipality landed about 200,000 tonnes of fish, mostly cod and saithe, says Store norske leksikon, which gives Tromsø the biggest landings by first-sale value of any Norwegian municipality.
Tromsø is also a center for polar science: the Norwegian Polar Institute moved here from Oslo. The municipality is rich in seabirds, and puffins, cormorants, white-tailed eagles and ospreys are common.
Store norske leksikon: a varied fishing fleet with many large boats working all year; about 200,000 tonnes landed in 2024 (first-hand value about 4.8 billion kroner), mainly cod and saithe, about 50% of the county's landings and the largest landings by first-hand value among Norway's municipalities; just over 1% of jobs in primary industries (2024). The Norwegian Polar Institute moved from Oslo to Tromsø; the Northern Lights Observatory opened in 1928. Seabirds include puffin, cormorant, white-tailed eagle and osprey.
- Fish landed by local fishers (2024)
- about 200,000 tonnes, mostly cod and saithe (Store norske leksikon)
- Research
- the Norwegian Polar Institute moved here from Oslo (Store norske leksikon)
- Birds
- puffins, cormorants, white-tailed eagles and ospreys (Store norske leksikon)
Tromsø on the map
Find Norway on the globe. Tromsø is near its top, on a small island.
Tromsø lies at about 69.6° north and 19.0° east, in northern Norway. The town is on the island of Tromsøya, with the mainland to the east across the Tromsøysund strait and the big island of Kvaløya to the west.
Measured from the municipality's point on Wikidata, the Tromsø Bridge is about 0.8 kilometer east-northeast and the cable car about 1.5 kilometers southeast.
Tromsø lies at about 69.65° N, 18.96° E (Wikidata point of Tromsø municipality, Q26087; the Natural Earth/sheet point is 2.11 km SE of it). From the Wikidata point: Tromsø bridge (Q945944) 0.84 km ENE; Fjellheisen (Q1422197) 1.51 km SE. Store norske leksikon: Tromsøysundet separates Tromsøya from the mainland; Sandnessundet lies between Tromsøya and Kvaløya.
- Latitude
- about 69.6° north
- Longitude
- about 19.0° east
- Island
- Tromsøya, between the mainland and Kvaløya (Store norske leksikon)
Amazing facts
-
You can ride a cable car up a mountain right by Tromsø!
Tromsø's cable car, Fjellheisen, opened in 1961; the photographer took this page's photo of the town from it.
Store norske leksikon: Fjellheisen opened in 1961. The hero photo is a 'Blick vom Fjellheisen' (view from the cable car), in the photographer's own words on Commons.
-
Fishers from Tromsø bring home lots and lots of fish!
Store norske leksikon says fishers from Tromsø landed about 200,000 tonnes of fish in 2024, mostly cod and saithe.
Store norske leksikon (2024): about 200,000 tonnes round weight, first-hand value about 4.8 billion kroner; the largest landings by value of any Norwegian municipality.
-
Tromsø once had a hot day of 30 degrees!
Store norske leksikon notes Tromsø's record high of 30.4 °C, measured in 2014, though its July days average about 15 °C.
Store norske leksikon: 30.4 °C at Holt in 2014, the highest in more than 150 years of records; lowest −22 °C in 1910.
Words to know
- strait
- a narrow stretch of water between two pieces of land
- cable car
- a cabin pulled up a mountain on a strong wire rope
- customs
- the office that collects taxes on goods brought into a place
- municipality
- a town or area with its own local government
- saithe
- a sea fish related to cod
- Arctic
- the very cold region around the North Pole
Discovery challenge
-
Tromsø is a town in which country?
Tromsø is a port town in the north of which country?
Tromsø, a market town since 1794, is in which country?
- Norway
- Spain
- Egypt
Show the answer
Norway
Norway!
Norway.
Norway.
-
What goes from Tromsø's island over the water to the land?
What opened in 1960 to link Tromsøya with the mainland?
Which structure, opened in 1960, crosses the Tromsøysund strait on road 862?
- A long bridge
- A ski jump
- A canal
Show the answer
A long bridge
A long bridge!
The Tromsø Bridge.
Tromsøbrua, the Tromsø Bridge.
-
Which fish do Tromsø's fishers catch the most?
Which two fish make up most of the catch landed by Tromsø's fishers?
Which species does Store norske leksikon name as most of Tromsø's 2024 landings?
- Cod and saithe
- Tuna and swordfish
- Goldfish and guppies
Show the answer
Cod and saithe
Cod and saithe!
Cod and saithe.
Cod and saithe (and similar species).
-
Which month brings the most rain and snow to Tromsø?
In the 1961–1990 averages, which is Tromsø's wettest month?
Which month has the highest mean precipitation in the WMO 1961–1990 normals for Tromsø?
- October
- May
- July
Show the answer
October
October!
October, with 131 millimeters.
October, 131 mm.
Nearby places
-
Watch
City
Tampere
Tampere is Finland's third-biggest municipality, with an estimated 263,337 people at the end of 2025. It was founded in 1779 on a narrow strip of land between the lakes Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, joined by the Tammerkoski rapids, and grew into a factory town.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Svalbard
Svalbard is a group of Arctic islands, part of Norway, far north of the Arctic Circle. Glaciers and snowfields cover nearly 60 percent of the land. Polar bears hunt seals on the sea ice, walruses rest on the beaches, and inside a mountain on Spitsbergen the world keeps a frozen store of seeds.
-
Watch
City
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the main town of Svalbard, a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean. It began as a coal-mining town and today is a center for research and tourism. Statistics Norway counted 2,504 people in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund in 2026.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Geirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord is a fjord in western Norway: a long, deep, narrow arm of the sea between steep mountain walls, carved by glaciers in the Ice Age. It stretches 15 kilometers from Hellesylt to the village of Geiranger, with waterfalls pouring down its sides. Since 2005 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Nærøyfjord.
-
Watch
City
Turku
Turku is a city in southwest Finland, at the mouth of the Aura River, west of Helsinki. Universalis calls it Finland's oldest city, and it was the capital until 1812. At the end of 2025 about 209,633 people lived there, according to Statistics Finland.
-
Watch
City
Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the only town on Åland, a group of thousands of islands in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. It is a busy port town with ferries, museums and two harbors. In 2024, 15,414 people lived in its built-up area, according to Statistics Finland.
-
Watch
City
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital of Finland, on a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland. Founded in 1550 and made the capital in 1812, it has white stone buildings, a sea fortress on islands, and the world's most northern metro. About 694,000 people lived there at the end of 2025.
-
Watch
Landmark
Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna is a sea fortress on a group of islands off Helsinki, Finland. Work on it began in 1748, when the area belonged to Sweden. Its stone walls, grassy ramparts and pointed bastions spread over six islands, and today it is a part of Helsinki where people live and visitors explore.
Experiments to try
Explore next
-
Watch
Country
Norway
Norway stretches along the western side of the Scandinavian Peninsula, far into the Arctic. Deep, narrow inlets of the sea called fjords cut into its mountains, and about 5.6 million people live there, many of them near Oslo, the capital.
-
Watch
Life around the world
The polar night in Tromsø, Norway
Tromsø lies far north of the Arctic Circle. From about 26 November to 17 January the sun stays below the horizon all day, a time called mørketid in Norwegian, the dark time. Around midday there are still a few hours of twilight. People wear reflectors on dark roads, and a study found that people farther north in Norway tended to feel more positive about winter.
-
Watch
City
Bergen
Bergen is Norway's second-largest city, on the west coast between a fjord and seven hills. It was founded in 1070 and became an important trading port: its old harbor district, Bryggen, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On 1 January 2026, 294,860 people lived in Bergen.
-
Watch
City
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the main town of Svalbard, a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean. It began as a coal-mining town and today is a center for research and tourism. Statistics Norway counted 2,504 people in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund in 2026.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if you lived where the Sun never sets? North of the Arctic Circle, Earth's tilt keeps the Sun above the horizon all day and all night around midsummer: the midnight Sun. In our sunlight model, moving from 40° north to 69.5° north on June 21 turns a 14.8-hour day into 24 hours of daylight.
- Watch Geography Midnight sun and polar night Because Earth is tilted, places near the poles lean toward the Sun for part of the year and away from it for another part. North of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, that means days when the Sun never sets, called the midnight sun, and days when it never rises, called the polar night.
-
Watch
City
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. It began as a fishing village beside a dam on the Amstel River, which gave the city its name. Today about 942,000 people live among its rings of canals, hundreds of bridges, houseboats and bicycles.
-
Watch
City
Antwerp
Antwerp is a city in Belgium on the Scheldt river, and Universalis calls it the second port of continental Europe, after Rotterdam. Belgium's statistics office estimated 565,615 people in the city on 1 January 2026. In the 1500s it was one of Europe's great trading cities.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Tromsø on an island in northern Norway.
- Explain why bridges and tunnels matter for an island town.
- Describe how fishing supports a northern port.
- Read a climate table where winter stays below freezing.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- How did a new bridge change where people chose to live?
- Why might a polar research institute move to a town in the Arctic?
- What would you pack to visit a place that is cold even in May?
Try at home or in class
- Bridge build: make a long, curved bridge from paper strips between two books and test how much it holds.
- Fish chart: draw a bar for Tromsø's 200,000 tonnes of fish next to a bar for 1,000 tonnes to see the difference.
- Cold chart: draw Tromsø's monthly highs and lows with a line at 0 °C.
Key vocabulary: strait, cable car, customs, municipality, saithe, Arctic
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Tromsø , Store norske leksikon
- Tromsø , Larousse encyclopédie
- Norway: Major Municipalities , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from Statistics Norway
- Tromsoe: climatological information (1961–1990) , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- File:Tromsø vom Fjellheisen aus gesehen.jpg (JoachimKohlerBremen) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.