It was located along the Altafjorden and the river Altaelva with the same borders as the present-day Alta Municipality.

[4] Some of the notable villages in the municipality included Kåfjord, Komagfjord, Kvenvik, Langenes, Langfjordbotn, Leirbotn, Rafsbotn, Talvig, and Tverrelvdalen.

The parish of Alten-Talvig was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).

The name possibly comes from the Old Norse words ǫlpt or alpt which refer to a swan.

The early Norwegian settlers would have translated that as tåkebukta (meaning "fog bay") and this could have been corrupted from tåke to tal.

The highest point in the municipality was the 1,149-metre (3,770 ft) tall mountain Store Haldi.