Troms

Troms lies among the islands and fjords of northern Norway, where sea routes join a coast broken by mountains and sounds. On the island of Tromsøya a church was established in the thirteenth century, marking a northern outpost of the Norwegian church. Fishing and coastal traffic connected its surroundings with communities farther south and east.

In 1794 Christian VII granted Tromsø town privileges, although the settlement then had only around eighty inhabitants. The new town developed trading contacts with northern Russia as well as other parts of Europe. A customs post had already stood at Skansen before the charter, and the harbour gave the small settlement a position from which to serve the surrounding coastal districts and the boats passing between them.