After the end of the Roman period Slavs settled in the Virgen valley, who were gradually assimilated by Baiuvarii settlers beginning in the 8th century.

Agriculture and tourism both play important economic roles, but a lack of jobs and structural problems lead to a very high commuter rate.

[3] Virgen lies in northern East Tyrol and has an area of 88.8 km2 being the sixth larges municipality in Lienz district.

With around 42 km2 being part of High Tauern National Park, almost half of the municipality's area is under nature preservation.

Further along the road is the Virgen village subdivision, the main center of the municipality, with the hamlet of Weite.

In addition to the subdivisions and hamlets, there are also high altitude individual farms such as Sonnberg above Mellitz, east of Obermauern.

The town of Matrei in Osttirol, with the second largest population in Lienz district, functions as an economic, social, and medical center in Northeast Tyrol and is of particular importance to Virgen.

To the west of Virgen is Prägraten municipality, and to the north and east is the market town of Matrei.

Due to a favorable hillside location and susceptibly to erosion, fertile soils have formed over the shale layer which are suitable for alpine farming.

In the east of the municipality are small parts of the Matreier zone, which consists of numerous, intermingled, rocks (phyllite, quartzite, gypsum, bright dolomite and dark limestone, greywacke, and greenschist) of various origins.

The tallest mountains in the Virgen North Chain on the municipality's border are Hoher Eichham (3371 m), Säulkopf (3209 m), and Ochsenbug (3007 m).

As a result, Virgen loses only a third of its total possible sunshine duration in December, and only a seventh in June.

Due to the mountains in the north, Virgen is shielded from the cold Tauernwind, which reaches unprotected Matrei to the south.