Vardø Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law), encompassing the northeastern part of the Varanger Peninsula.

On 1 January 1964, the eastern fourth of Båtsfjord (population: 621) was transferred to the neighboring Vardø Municipality.

[7][8] On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county.

[11] This new name was chosen because the village of Båtsfjord (Old Norse: Botnsfjǫrðr) was the main population centre of the municipality.

The official blazon is "Azure, a fish hook argent" (Norwegian: I blått en hvit fiskekrok).

This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a Stone Age bone fish hook.

The fishing hook has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used.

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Båtsfjord is made up of 15 representatives that are elected to four year terms.

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Båtsfjord:[38][39] The municipality covers an area of 1,433 square kilometres (553 sq mi) including Finnmark's highest mountain pass over Ordofjell at 400 metres (1,300 ft) above sea level.

Among the now-abandoned fishing villages is Hamningberg on the outer coast, which has many well-preserved 19th century wooden houses.

The world's northernmost gannet colony to be found on the stack at Syltefjordstauran, along the Syltefjorden, north of the now-abandoned village of Nordfjord.