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Trondheim historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It has a population of 205,332 as of 2020, and is the third most populous municipality in Norway, although the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. Among the major technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), and St. Olavs University Hospital.

The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, and it served as the capital of Norway during the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros; since then, it has remained the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda and Tiller, and the municipality was further expanded 1 January 2020 when Trondheim merged with Klæbu.

Trondheim has a mild climate for its northerly latitude, resulting in moderate summers and winters that often remain above the freezing point in seaside areas. At higher elevations, though, the microclimate is colder and snowier. The city functions as the seat of the County Mayor of Trøndelag county, but not as the administrative centre, which is Steinkjer. This is to make the county administration not too centralized. Trondheim is home to football club Rosenborg, Norway's most successful team, as well as Granåsen Ski Centre which has hosted the World Championship in Nordic Skiing.

Trondheim was named Kaupangen (English: market place or trading place) by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997 CE. Shortly thereafter it came to be called Nidaros. In the beginning it was frequently used as a military retainer (Old Norse: "hird"-man) of King Olav I. It was frequently used as the seat of the king, and was the capital of Norway until 1217.

People have been living in the region for thousands of years as evidenced by the rock carvings in central Norway, the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures and the Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the Kings of Norway were hailed at Øretinget in Trondheim, the place for the assembly of all free men by the mouth of the River Nidelva. Harald Fairhair (865–933) was hailed as the king here, as was his son, Haakon I, called 'the Good'. The battle of Kalvskinnet took place in Trondheim in 1179: King Sverre Sigurdsson and his Birkebeiner warriors were victorious against Erling Skakke (a rival to the throne). Some scholars believe that the famous Lewis chessmen, 12th century chess pieces carved from walrus ivory found in the Hebrides and now at the British Museum, may have been made in Trondheim.

Trondheim was the seat of the Archbishop of Nidaros for Norway from 1152, which operated from the Archbishop's Palace. Due to the introduction of Lutheran Protestantism in 1537, the last Archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, had to flee from the city to the Netherlands, where he died in present-day Lier, Belgium.

The city has experienced several major fires. Since much of the city was made of wooden buildings, many of the fires caused severe damage. Great fires ravaged the city in 1598, 1651, 1681, 1708, twice in 1717, 1742, 1788, 1841 and 1842; however, these were only the worst cases and there have been several smaller fires in the city. The 1651 fire destroyed 90% of all buildings within the city limits. The fire in 1681 (the "Horneman Fire") led to an almost total reconstruction of the city, overseen by General Johan Caspar von Cicignon, originally from Luxembourg. Broad avenues like Munkegata were created, with no regard for property rights, in order to stop the next fire. At the time, the city had a population of under 10,000 inhabitants, with most living in the downtown area.

After the Treaty of Roskilde on 26 February 1658, Trondheim and the rest of Trøndelag, became Swedish territory for a brief period, but the area was reconquered 10 months later. The conflict was finally settled by the Treaty of Copenhagen on 27 May 1660.

During the Second World War, Trondheim was occupied by Nazi Germany from 9 April 1940, the first day of the invasion of Norway, until the end of the war in Europe, 8 May 1945. The German invasion force consisted of the German cruiser Admiral Hipper, 4 destroyers and 1700 Austrian Mountain troops. Other than a coastal battery opening fire, there was no resistance to the invasion on 9 April at 5 AM. On 14 and 17 April, British and French forces landed near Trondheim in a failed attempt to liberate Trondheim as part of the Namsos Campaign.During the occupation, Trondheim was the home of the notorious Norwegian Gestapo agent, Henry Rinnan, who operated from a nearby villa and infiltrated Norwegian Resistance groups. The city and its citizens were also subject to harsh treatment by the occupying powers, including the imposition of martial law in October 1942. During this time the Germans turned the city and its environs into a major base for submarines (which included building the large submarine base and bunker DORA I), and also contemplated a scheme to build a new city for 300,000 inhabitants, Nordstern ("Northern Star"), centred 15 kilometres (9 miles) southwest of Trondheim, near the wetlands of Øysand in the outskirts of Melhus municipality. This new metropolis was to be accompanied by a massively expanded version of the already existing naval base, which was intended to become the primary future stronghold of the German Kriegsmarine. Today, there are few physical remains of this enormous construction project.

The city of Trondheim was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1864, part of Strinda (population: 1,229) was amalgamated with Trondheim. Then, on 1 January 1893, another part of Strinda (population: 4,097) was transferred to Trondheim. On 1 January 1952, the Lade area of Strinda (population: 2,230) was transferred to Trondheim. On 1 January 1964, a major municipal merger took place: the neighbouring municipalities of Leinstrand (population: 4,193), Byneset (population: 2,049), Strinda (population: 44,600), and Tiller (population: 3,595) were all merged with the city of Trondheim (population: 56,982), which nearly doubled the population of the municipality. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring Klæbu Municipality (population: 6,050) was merged with Trondheim Municipality.

Trondheim is situated where the River Nidelva meets Trondheim Fjord with an excellent harbour and sheltered condition. The river used to be deep enough for most boats in the Middle Ages. An avalanche of mud and stones made it less navigable and partly ruined the harbour in the mid-17th century. The municipality's top elevation is the Storheia hill, 565 metres (1,854 ft) above sea level. At the summer solstice, the sun rises at 03:00 and sets at 23:40, but stays just below the horizon–there is no darkness (no need for artificial lighting outdoors) from 23 May to 19 July under cloud-free conditions.[17] At the winter solstice, the sun rises at 10:01, stays very low above the horizon (at midday its altitude is slightly more than 3 degrees over the horizon), and sets at 14:31.

Early winter in the hills near the city. Trondheim municipality covers large areas outside the city itself. Trondheim city has an oceanic climate (Cfb) or humid continental climate (Dfb), depending on the winter threshold used (0 °C or −3 °C). The part of the municipality further away from the fjord has slightly colder winters, while the part close to the fjord has the mildest winters. Trondheim is mostly sheltered from the strong south and southwesterly winds which can occur along the outer seaboard but is more exposed to northwesterly winds. As with the rest of Norway, the weather is dependent on the weather pattern. High pressure over Central Norway or to the east gives sunny weather which can last for weeks. Conversely, Atlantic Lows can also dominate for weeks, and both patterns can happen all year. This was demonstrated in 2020 when May saw northwesterlies with cold air from the Greenland Sea lasting three weeks into the month, and snowfall in mid-May, setting a new record for snow in May. The next month, high pressure and weeks with southeasterlies gave the warmest June on record, with 345 sun hours and Trondheim Airport recording a new record high 34.3 °C (94 °F), Norway's warmest high in 2020. Trondheim experiences moderate snowfall from November to March,[18] but mixed with mild weather and rainfall. There are on average 14 days each winter with at least 25 cm (10 in) of snow cover on the ground and 22 days with a daily minimum temperature of −10 °C (14 °F) or less (1971–2000, airport). There is often more snow and later snowmelt in suburban areas at a higher elevation, with good skiing conditions in Bymarka. All the monthly record lows are from 1955 or older, with half of them from before 1920. The last overnight frost in June was in 1958, and the coldest night in May after year 2000 had low −2.7 °C. The May record low is from 1900, 3.7 °C colder than the second coldest May night. The all-time low −26 °C (−14.8 °F) was recorded February 1899. The all-time high 35 °C (95 °F) was recorded 22 July 1901. The warmest month on record is July 2014 with mean 19.5 °C (67.1 °F) and average daily high 24.9 °C (76.8 °F) (airport). The coldest month on record is February 1966 with mean −9.9 °C (14.2 °F) and average daily low −14.2 °C (6.4 °F) (airport). The average date for the first overnight freeze (below 0 °C (32.0 °F)) in autumn is 9 October (1981–2010 average, airport).[19] The earliest weather stations were located closer to the city centre, from 1945 onwards the weather station has been located at a higher elevation (Voll, 127 m and Tyholt, 113 m), therefore being slightly colder. A new sunrecorder was established by met.no in the city at Gløshaugen (NTNU) December 2015, recording more sunhrs than earlier sunrecorder, which had terrain blocking issues. There are on average 229 sunhours in July (based 2016–2020). Trondheim recorded 197 sunhours in October 2016 beating the previous national record for October. In April 2019, Trondheim recorded 308 sunhours, setting a new national record for April. In contrast, December 2016 only recorded 10 sunhours.