Troms

Troms (Northern Sami: Romsa, Kven: Tromssa) is a county in northern Norway, re-established as a separate county in the 2024 county division after having been merged with Finnmark as Troms og Finnmark from 2020.¹ It had 168,340 inhabitants on 1 January 2023, spread over 21 municipalities, and accounted for 3.1 percent of Norway's population on 8.1 percent of the country's land area.²

Geography and settlement

Troms lies in Northern Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. The county's population is heavily concentrated: 72.1 percent of its residents live in urban settlements, well above the national pattern in which large parts of Norway are sparsely settled, and the density of 6.4 inhabitants per km² reflects a landscape of fjords and mountains with settlement along the coast and valleys.²

The county's municipalities vary widely in size. The largest, Tromsø, held 77,992 inhabitants on 1 January 2023, while the smallest had 983; the average municipality in the county had 8,016 inhabitants.² A mid-2021 count of municipalities in the then county of Troms og Finnmark recorded Tromsø at 77,106 inhabitants, Harstad at 24,826, and Senja at 14,736, with smaller municipalities such as Kvænangen at 1,170, Karlsøy at 2,177, and Lyngen at 2,755.⁴

Tromsø. The county's dominant population and employment center lies at 69 degrees north. The municipality counts 79,943 inhabitants as of 1 January 2026, making it the ninth largest municipality in Norway, and its neighbors are Balsfjord to the south, Storfjord to the east, and Karlsøy to the northeast.^{3 • 5} Its largest public employers are UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University Hospital of North Norway (UNN), and the municipality itself, and the city hosts the Norwegian Polar Institute.⁵ The present municipality was created on 1 January 1964 by merging the town of Tromsø with the rural municipalities of Tromsøysund and Ullsfjord (except the Svensby area) and the part of Hillesøy on Kvaløya and the islands north of Hekkingen.⁶

Administrative history

The county's boundaries have changed within recent decades. As part of the 2020 regional reform, Tjeldsund municipality was moved from Nordland into the combined county of Troms og Finnmark.¹ From 2024, the county division again lists Troms - Romsa - Tromssa as a county in its own right, alongside Nordland and Finnmark - Finnmárku.¹

Municipal mergers have also shaped the county. The 1964 formation of the present Tromsø municipality, decided by royal resolution of 7 December 1962 and regulated by a 1963 decree, gave the new municipality 69 representatives in its first municipal council for the 1964 to 1967 period.⁶

Economy and regional role

Tromsø functions as the county's regional hub. The city is a fishing municipality with activity in both fisheries and aquaculture, and tourism has grown in importance in recent years.⁵ Tromsø municipality reports that Tromsø is Norway's largest fishing port, that tourism accounts for about 10 percent of all work positions in the municipality, and that the city serves as a base for visitors to surrounding municipalities as well.⁷ In 2025 the municipality recorded 1,306,969 commercial overnight stays, Tromsø Airport had 2,881,478 arrivals, and the port received 180 cruise calls with 193,362 cruise guests.⁷

The city's role as a transport node extends across the region: express boats connect Tromsø with coastal communities including Finnsnes, Harstad, Lysnes, and Skjervøy year-round, and district buses run from the Prostneset terminal to destinations within the municipality such as Sommarøy, Ersfjordbotn, and Oldervik.⁸

Demographic outlook

Statistics Norway's municipal projections put Tromsø's population at 81,637 in 2030 and 85,379 in 2050, continued growth from the 2026 level.⁹ Recent quarterly figures show the growth is not steady: in the second quarter of 2026 the municipality's population fell by 182 persons, against 854 births, 490 deaths, and net in-migration of 156 persons for 2025 as a whole.⁹

References

1. Areal og befolkning i kommuner, fylker og hele landet (K) 2007-2026, Statistikkportalen
2. Regionale utviklingstrekk 2023, Kommunal- og distriktsdepartementet, regjeringen.no
3. Tromsø kommune – folketall, bolig, jobb og natur, NorgeStatus
4. Effects of economic activities on local societies and cultures, ArcticHubs deliverable (map: Folketallet i kommunene i Troms og Finnmark pr 30.06.2021)
5. Fakta om Tromsø, Tromsø kommune
6. Forskrift om sammenslåing av Tromsø, Tromsøysund, Ullsfjord og Hillesøy kommuner, Troms, Lovdata
7. Slik er næringslivet i Tromsø kommune, Tromsø kommune
8. Getting around in Tromsø and the region, Visit Tromsø
9. Kommunefakta Tromsø, Statistisk sentralbyrå

Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Administrative and cadastral territories › Local administrative territories › Nordic and Baltic municipalities

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026

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