Lviv was founded in 1256 in Red Ruthenia by King Danylo Halytskyi of the Ruthenian principality of Halych-Volhynia, and named in honour of his son, Lev. Together with the rest of Red Ruthenia, Lviv was captured by the Kingdom of Poland in 1349 during the reign of Polish king Casimir III the Great. Lviv belonged to the Kingdom of Poland 1349–1569, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569–1772, the Austrian Empire 1772–1918 and the Second Polish Republic 1918–1939. With the Invasion of Poland at the outbreak of the second World War, the city of Lviv with adjacent land were annexed and incorporated into the Soviet Union, becoming part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1939 to 1941. Between July 1941 and July 1944 Lviv was under German occupation and was located in the General Government. In July 1944 it was captured by the Soviet Red Army and the Polish Home Army. According to the agreements of the Yalta Conference, Lviv was again integrated into the Ukrainian SSR.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the city remained a part of the now independent Ukraine, for which it currently serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast, and is designated as its own raion (district) within that oblast.

Lviv city is also a major publishing and cultural center, especially of Ukrainian culture, which flourished there in tsarist times. Lviv University, which was founded in 1661 and named for the Ukrainian poet and journalist Ivan Franko, is one of the institutions of higher education in Lviv. There are also poly-graphic institute, institute of applied arts, conservatoire. There are also many research establishments in Lviv city of Ukraine.

On 12 June 2009 the Ukrainian magazine Focus assessed Lviv as the best Ukrainian city to live in.