Troms is a county far to the north in a country on the outskirts of Europe. This location makes it easy to assume that the county is more or less inaccessible in terms of contact with the outside world, but Troms has extensive international contacts and benefits from many external impulses. 

In a historical perspective 
People in the coastal areas have been in contact with merchants from far and near for hundreds of years. Stockfish was sold to foreign countries as early as the Middle Ages, and at one point sales comprised more than 80% of goods exported from the whole of Norway. During the nineteenth century, Pomor commercial trade with Russian merchants formed an important part of our contact with Russia. Immigration also offered new impulses. The Finnishspeaking immigrants from North Sweden and North Finland, the Kven, lived in Troms as early as the Middle Ages, but their immigration began in earnest during the eighteenth century, lasting until the beginning of the twentieth century. 

The situation today

In our own age, modern means of transport have made it easier to maintain contact across borders. Light aircraft, fast boats and a well-developed road network bind the county together, and via the three biggest airports it is easy to travel to other parts of the country, and to the rest of the world as well. Most foreigners who come here are tourists, but some choose to settle down in Troms for shorter or longer periods. At the University of Tromsø, for example, about 10% of the students and 30% of the staff are foreigners.

Involvement in the North
There are direct flights from Tromsø to destinations in North Sweden and Northwest Russia, which are important in terms of co-operation within the Barents region. Through its participation in the Barents co-operation, the EU Interreg programmes and co-operation agreements with counties in Northwest Russia, Troms is contributing to the creation of stability and development in the region across former boundaries. This is of utmost importance in an age where there is an increasing focus on Northern areas and petroleum extraction in the Barents Sea. Although the Barents co-operation forms the cornerstone of the county's international involvement, attention has also been directed towards other parts of Europe in recent years. The County Councils of Troms and Nordland have established a joint European Office for North Norway in the EU capital, Brussels.