Economy
The city of Tromsø, in the north central part, is the county seat and an Arctic seaport, and seat of the world's northernmost university, renowned for research about the aurora borealis. The University of Tromsø has an astrophysical observatory located in Skibotn . Tromsø is the only municipality in the county with a strong population growth; most of the smaller municipalities experience decreasing populations as the young and educated move to the cities, often in the southern part of Norway. Harstad is a commercial centre for the southern part of the county, and has been chosen by Statoil as its main office in Northern Norway.
Along the coast and on the islands, fishing is dominant. Important ports for the fishing fleet are Skjervøy, Tromsø and Harstad. There is also some agriculture, especially in the southern part, which has a longer growing season (150 days in Harstad). Balsfjord is often regarded to be the most northern municipality with substantial agricultural activity in Norway, although there is also agriculture further north.
The Norwegian armed forces is a vital employer in Troms, having the seat of the 6th army division, Bardufoss Air Station, helicopter wings and radar stations in the county. There are hospitals in Tromsø (university hospital and main hospital for North Norway) and Harstad.
The busiest airport is Tromsø Airport. The southern part of Troms is served by Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes. The E6 cuts through the county from Nordland into Gratangen in the south to Kvænangen in the north and then into Finnmark. The E8 road runs from Tromsø to Finland via Nordkjosbotn and the Skibotn valley. There are several large bridges; some of the largest are Tjeldsund Bridge, Mjøsund Bridge, Gisund Bridge, Tromsø Bridge and Sandnessund Bridge. There are several undersea road tunnels; Rolla to Andørja (in Ibestad), Tromsøya to the mainland (Tromsø), Kvaløya to Ringvassøya and Skjervøy to the mainland.
The government of Finland has expressed interest in building a railway from the Finnish rail network to port facilities at Skibotn.
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