Complex sentence: Originally, the term was used by the local population only to refer to the city and its immediate surroundings, while the common Austrian name for the whole region under Austrian rule was "Welschtirol" (meaning Italian Tyrol).
Split into simpler sentences: Originally, the term was used by the local population only to refer to the city and its immediate surroundings. Under former Austrian rule, the common name for the region was "Welschtirol" (meaning Italian Tyrol).