Balsfjord (Northern Sami: Báhccavuotna - pronounced [ˈpaːhːt͡saˌvuo̯tna]; Kven: Paatsivuono) is a municipality in Troms county, Norway.

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

[9] The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local fjord: Balsfjorden (Northern Sami: Báhccavuotna).

On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Balsfjord, removing the definite form ending -en.

Due to the assimilation processes carried out by the Norwegian government, today very few traces of Sami and Kven culture survive.

The mindekirken movement in the Troms region was led by the seminary student, Johannes Andreas Johannessen Bomstad (born at Balsfjord on 23 August 1821), who split from the state church at the age of 28, under the leadership of the first Norwegian mindekirken movement leader, Rev.

Bomstad" and his followers were said to have struggled and protested against the Tromsø state church minister and the Troms Bishop's religious rulings, eventually leading to a riot in the town of Tromsø, when state-church members yelled at Bomstad and his fellow dissenters to "go back to Kautokeino (A small village in the most northern districts of Norway)".

In 1862, Bomstad led a group of "mindekirken colonists" to America, traveling first to Bergen, where they sailed in mid-May 1862 aboard the Sleipner, arriving at the inland port of Chicago, Illinois on 2 August 1862.

After arriving in Chicago, the mindekirken colonists traveled overland to the area of St. Peter, Minnesota, where they remained during the "Dakota War of 1862".

Bomstad led the rest of the colonists from St. Peter to their new settlement at Lake Lillian, where they built dugout shelters to live in that first year (on the site later occupied by the First M.E.

Here is a list of people who have held this position: The highest point in the municipality is the 1,587-metre (5,207 ft) tall mountain Vassdalsfjellet.

The Tine dairy factory at Storsteinnes is one of the largest producers of the Norwegian brown cheese (brunost).

Apart from the impressive scenery, attractions include the 6000-year-old rock carvings at Tennes (close to the Balsfjord Church), the old trading centre of Nordby, a Sami camp at Heia open over the summer months and the 18th century sawmill at Aursfjord.