Other population centers in Horten Municipality include the town of Åsgårdstrand and the villages of Nykirke, Skoppum, and Borre.

On 1 June 2002, the name of the municipality was changed (back) to Horten, following a referendum held in conjunction with the 2001 parliamentary election.

Another option could be that it is derived from the Old Norse word hǫlkn or helkn which means "rocky ground", "shelter", or "place of refuge".

The coat of arms was granted on 19 November 1907, just after Horten was designated as a kjøpstad, giving it town privileges.

Above the line, there is a red rose and the field 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 arms use the old "English"-style of shield with a mural crown sits on top signifying that the municipality contains a city.

Horten Municipality is located on the western shore of the Ytre Oslofjord in Vestfold County.

About half of the municipality's total area is made up of forests, while slightly less than a third is agricultural land.

The inland villages of Skoppum, Borre, and Nykirke are all located in the rural areas of the municipality.

Additional nature preserves are found by the lake Borrevannet and the islands of Løvøya and Bastøy.

Reverompa Plant Reserve was established in 2006 due to presence of the nationally endangered crested cow-wheat.

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Horten is made up of 41 representatives that are elected to four-year terms.

[44] Borrehaugene (from Borre, the name of a local village and "haugene" from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound) was the first national park to be founded in Norway.

The park provides important historical knowledge, and can be seen as evidence that there was a center of power here in the Viking Age.

The excavations also uncovered an unusually good selection of craft work, much of which is on display in Oslo at the Viking Ship Museum.

These burial mounds may represent North Europe's most extensive collection of graves of the old Scandinavian Yngling dynasty.

[4] The railway line Vestfoldbanen passes through the Horten municipality, but not through the main city center.

By car, Horten is reached by following European route E18 south, and is approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Oslo.

The University of South-Eastern Norway has a campus in Horten, commonly referred to as Bakkenteigen, which offers a wide range of subjects from sociology, history and language thru mathematics, nature science and maritime studies.