Sápmi is the name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sami people, the Lapps or Laplanders, as they are traditionally known in English. Sápmi is located in Northern Europe and includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia. The region stretches over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Sápmi is the name in North Sami, while the Julev Sami name is Sábme and the South Sami name is Saemie. In Norwegian and Swedish the term Sameland is often used. It is frequently mistaken for being exclusively synonymous with the Swedish province of Lapland. (see Etymology).
With the fall of the Soviet Union and increasing internationalization, cross-border co-operation is becoming more important, and existing state borders less important both for the Sami indigenous population and non-Sami inhabitants—the latter constituting the majority population of the region. Russians and Norwegians are the most numerous groups, and the Sami make up only a small minority of about 5%. No political organization advocates secession, though several groups desire more territorial autonomy and/or more self-determination for the region's indigenous population.
The region has its own football team, the Sámi Spábbáčiekčanlihttu, that plays in the NF-Board, won the 2006 Viva World Cup and hosted the 2008 event.
Troms County Municipality (Norwegian: Troms fylkeskommune, Northern Sami: Romssa fylkkasuohkan) is the regional governing administration of Troms county in northern Norway. It has its administration in the city of Tromsø. It consists of a 37-member county council and a 5-member county cabinet.
The Trom county council (Norwegian: Fylkestinget) is made up of 37 representatives that are elected every four years. The council most recently elected for the 2011-2015 term. The council essentially acts as a Parliament or legislative body for the county. This council is led by a county mayor (Norwegian: Fylkesordfører), and the council elects 5 members to be in the county cabinet (Norwegian: Fylkesrådet) which carries out the executive functions of the county. The cabinet is led by Pia Svensgaard.
The county council is led by a county mayor, currently Knut Werner Hansen from the Labour Party. He is serving in this office for the 2011-2015 term. The deputy county mayor is Kristine Bertheussen Killie from the Conservative Party.