In the 1930s and 1940s, the ONC (Opera Nazionale Combattenti, ‘National Soldiers Works’, a welfare agency formed aftermath of the disastrous Italian defeat at the Battle of Caporetto) directed a large agricultural business in Licola.

After the Irpinia earthquake in 1980 and the bradyseism of 1982, however, many displaced people sought shelter in Licola and its tourist industry went into a period of decline.

It is bordered to the north by Varcaturo and Lago Patria, hamlets within Giugliano, to the east by Monterusciello and Monte Grillo, and to the south by the town of Bacoli, while to the west lies the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The dunes of Licola can be separated into two distinct zones: a first, outer layer subject to marine erosion, and a second strip that is stabilized by vegetation.

[citation needed] Further inland, the environment supports a system of dense vegetation, made up of oak forest on a dry, sandy soil, which was repeatedly cited by Roman authors for the pleasant atmosphere it produces.

Licola is subject to the typical Mediterranean climate with hot summers, dry winters, and temperate rainy periods in autumn and spring.

The Professional Institute of State for Agriculture and the Environment (IPAA) has established an advanced station for weather data collection that monitors the climate of Licola with extreme precision.

The accompanying table shows the figures for 2006: The territory of Licola preserves not only an invaluable archaeological heritage but also popular and religious traditions and a significant commercial, cultural and tourist function.

According to the latest archaeological findings, which emerged during excavations carried out by the Archeological Heritage Authority, it is thought that the territory of Licola covers an old Roman road, the Domitian Way, and the remains of an amphitheater of the same period whose precise location has yet to be discovered.

Licola now contains the Regional Park of the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), which preserves the dunes and habitat specific to the area and has been declared a Site of Importance to the Community and a Special Protection Zone owing to the rarity of the species living there, such as the sea daffodil.

Along with the remains of the Cumaean Acropolis, the Regional Park of the Phlegraen Fields also contains an area of rare Mediterranean evergreen forest, known to the ancients as the Silva Gallinaria.