The town is located on the river Wetter halfway between Taunus and Vogelsberg; the northern and eastern parts of the town reside within the natural area of the Vogelsberg, the southern and western in the Wetterau.

Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole municipality, the following surrounding communities belong to Lich since the Gebietsreformen (administrative reorganization) of the 1970s: The region is known to have been settled for more than 100,000 years.

Originally belonging to the County of Hagen-Münzenberg it became the property of the Counts of Falkenstein following the marriage of Isengard of Münzenberg to Philip IV of Bolanden-Falkenstein.

Lich is the home of the brewery and leading regional brand Licher (part of Bitburger Holding).

The town also has more than 400 years of tradition in organ building, today represented by the Förster & Nicolaus Orgelbauanstalt and the Otto Heuss GmbH.