When the first Swedish local government acts went into force in 1863, 20 rural municipal entities (each corresponding to a parish of the Church of Sweden) were created in the area.

The two most notable sights in the municipality are the mountain/ridge Kinnekulle (with 306 meters the highest point in the county) and the village Husaby, with an old church and church well, where the first Christian king of Sweden, Olof Skötkonung, is believed to have been baptized.

This is a demographic table based on Götene Municipality's electoral districts in the 2022 Swedish general election sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics.

Götene has a sister city in Lithuania called Pasvalys which has about 7,500 inhabitants.

To boast its geographical uniqueness, it uses a symbol of the Kinnekulle mountain mirroring in Lake Vänern.