The area around the former Roman municipium of Aguntum was, from the 12th century, held by the Counts of Gorizia, who took their residence at Lienz and inherited the County of Tyrol in 1253. While Tyrol was lost to the Austrian House of Habsburg in 1363, the Gorizian counts retained Lienz until the extinction of the line in 1500. Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg finally incorporated it into Austrian Tyrol.
After Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, East Tyrol became part of the Reichsgau Kärnten (Carinthia). It was returned to Tyrol in 1947. After World War II, East Tyrol became part of the British occupied zone of Austria.
In Austria, East Tyrol borders the federal states of Carinthia in the east and Salzburg in the north, while it also shares borders with the Italian provinces of South Tyrol (Alto Adige, northern part of the region Trentino-Alto Adige) in the west and Belluno (the region Veneto) in the south. It is separated from the Tyrolean district of Schwaz in North Tyrol by a 9.5 km (5.9 mi) long common border of South Tyrol with the Salzburg Pinzgau region.
