The 114-square-kilometre (44 sq mi) municipality included land on the mainland plus many surrounding islands.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee.

The first element is identical to the word skot which means "overhang" or "projection of land".

On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Skaatøy.

The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.