By the consistent growth of the city, some smaller villages around – though officially municipalities in their own right – are now widely considered to be suburbs of Lienz. Those suburbs comprise:
Lienz itself was first mentioned as Luenzina in a deed issued by the Bishop of Brixen about 1030. The settlement itself, together with neighbouring Patriasdorf, then belonged of the Patriarchs of Aquileia, who were elevated to immediate landlords by Emperor Henry IV in 1077. It was then purchased by the scions of the Meinhardiner dynasty, who held the office of Aquileian Vögte (reeves) and chose Lienz as a residence. From about 1127 they called themselves Counts of Görz (Gorizia).
Located on the important trade route from Venzone in Friuli to Salzburg, the market town of Lienz received city rights on 25 February 1242. In 1278 the Counts finished Burg Bruck, a castle that until 1500 served as their local seat. When the Meinhardiner became extinct in 1500 upon the death of Count Leonhard of Gorizia, their estates were bequeathed to the Habsburg King Maximilian I and finally incorporated into the County of Tyrol. From the status of an Imperial residence, Lienz sank to the insignificance of a provincial town within the Habsburg monarchy.
Lienz has relatively warm and humid summers and cold winters. 1971–2000 there was a recorded precipitation of 915 mm (36 in). Most of the rain falls during the summer months, especially from June to August (respectively 98, 119 and 100 mm (3.9, 4.7 and 3.9 in)). The driest months are January and February (42 and 35 mm (1.7 and 1.4 in))
The average temperature in July is 7.0 °C (44.6 °F). In January it is about 17.9 °C (64.2 °F) −5.2 °C (22.6 °F). Lienz is also one of the sunniest cities in Austria with an average of 5.4 hours of sun per day or 1952 hours per year. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Dfb" (humid continental).[5]
Lienz is located at a road junction between the Drautalstraße highway, leading from Carinthia to the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol (B100), and the Felbertauernstraße (B108) from Lienz to Mittersill in Salzburg. It is also connected by the Drautalbahn railway line from Villach to Innichen in South Tyrol. The Felbertauerntunnel between Mittersill and Lienz was completed in 1967.[7]