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Marche ( ,
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> "Marche" (US) and ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ),The Times, page [2] ( ...British call it the Marches.). is one of the twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy of the country, and has a population of about 1.5 million people, being the thirteenth largest region in the country by number of inhabitants. The region's capital and largest city is Ancona.
The Marche region is bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany and Umbria to the west, Lazio to the southwest, Abruzzo to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Except for river valleys and the often very narrow coastal strip, the land is hilly. A railway from Bologna to Brindisi, built in the 19th century, runs along the coast of the entire territory. Inland, the mountainous nature of the region, even today, allows relatively little travel north and south, except by twisting roads over the passes.
From the Middle ages to the Renaissance period, many cities of the Marche were important cultural, artistic and commercial centres, the most prominent being Ancona, Pesaro, Urbino, Camerino and Ascoli Piceno.
Urbino, which was a major centre of Renaissance history, was also the birthplace of Raphael, one of the most important painters and architects of that period. The Marche region is also the birthplace of Gentile da Fabriano, Cyriacus of Ancona, Donato Bramante, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Giacomo Leopardi, Gioachino Rossini and Maria Montessori.
Most of the region is mountainous or hilly: the Apennine range runs longitudinally along the region's eastern border and descends through a hilly landscape towards the Adriatic sea. With the sole exception of Monte Vettore, high, the mountains do not exceed . The hilly area covers two-thirds of the region and is intersected by wide gullies with numerous short rivers and by alluvial plains perpendicular to the Appennini range. The main mountain range has a few deep river gorges: the best known are those of the Furlo, the Rossa and the Frasassi.
The coastline is long and is relatively flat and straight except for the hilly area between Gabicce and Pesaro in the north, and the eastern slopes of Monte Conero near Ancona.
Climate is temperate. Inland, in the mountainous areas, is more continental with cold and often snowy winters; by the sea is more mediterranean. Precipitation varies from per year inland and per year on the Adriatic coast.
A region with an annular drainage pattern possibly corresponding to a mud diapir or astrobleme exists near Sant'Angelo in Pontano.
As of 2023, according to the report on land consumption of the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Marche and Liguria hold the Italian record for coastal overbuilding.
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was invaded by the Goths. After the Gothic War, it was part of the Byzantine Empire Exarchate of Ravenna (Ancona, Fano, Pesaro, Rimini, and Senigallia forming the so-called Pentapolis). After the fall of the Exarchate, it was briefly in the possession of the Lombards, but was conquered by Charlemagne in the late eighth century. In the ninth to eleventh centuries, the marches of Camerino, Fermo and Ancona were created, hence the modern name.
Marche was nominally part of the Papal States, but most of the territory was under local lords, while the major cities ruled themselves as free communes. In the twelfth century, the commune of Ancona resisted both the imperial authority of Frederick Barbarossa and the Republic of Venice, and was a maritime republic on its own. An attempt to restore Papal suzerainty by Gil de Albornoz in the fourteenth century was short-lived.
During the Renaissance, the region was fought over by rival aristocratic families, such as the Malatesta of Rimini, Pesaro, Fano and the house of Montefeltro of Urbino. The last independent entity, the Duchy of Urbino, was dissolved in 1631, and from then on, Marche was firmly part of the Papal States except during the Napoleonic period. This saw the short-lived Republic of Ancona, in 1797–98; the merging of the region with the Roman Republic in 1798–99, and with the Kingdom of Italy from 1808 to 1813; and the short occupation by Joachim Murat in 1815. After Napoleon's defeat, Marche returned to Papal rule until 4 November 1860, when it was annexed to the unified Kingdom of Italy by a plebiscite.
The Bombardment of Ancona occurred during the Adriatic campaign of World War I. The 1916 Rimini earthquakes damaged or destroyed several buildings in Pesaro, Fano, and its hinterlands.
The Battle of Ancona occurred during the Italian campaign of World War II.
After the referendum of 2006, seven municipalities of Montefeltro were detached from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino to join the Province of Rimini (Emilia-Romagna) on 15 August 2009. Article on il Resto del Carlino The municipalities are Casteldelci, Maiolo, Novafeltria, Pennabilli, San Leo, Sant'Agata Feltria and Talamello.
Towns in Marche were devastated by many powerful earthquakes during the centuries, the last time in 2016 (in August and in October). Powerful Earthquakes in Italy. In September 2022, Marche was hit by heavy flooding. Alluvione Marche, 8 morti e 4 dispersi: si cerca un bambino, salva la mamma. Dispersa un'altra madre con bimba, Il Messaggero
Today the contribution of agriculture to the economy of the region is less significant and the gross value generated by this sector remains slightly above the national average. Marche has never suffered from the extremes of fragmented land ownership or 'latifondo'. Greatly diffused in the past, the sharecropping never produced an extreme land fragmentation. The main products are cereals, vegetables, animal products and grapes. Truffle hunting is popular; although it has often led to 'truffle wars' between hunters due to the imposition of quotas. Olives are also produced and managed by various harvesters. In spite of the marine impoverishment, the sea has always furnished a plentiful supply of fish, the main fishing centres being Ancona, San Benedetto del Tronto, Fano and Civitanova Marche.
Since the 1980s, the economy of the region has been radically transformed without, however, repudiating its rural past. Many of the small craft workshops scattered throughout the rural settlements have modernised and become small businesses, some of which have become major brands known all over the world (Indesit, Tod's, Guzzini, Teuco). This evolution led to the emergence of 'specialized' industrial areas, which are still profitable:
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 43.3 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.5% of Italy's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 28,200 euros or 94% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 96% of the EU average.
The unemployment rate stood at 7.4% in 2020. Marche is well known for its shoemaking tradition, with fine and luxurious Italian footwear manufacturing facilities in the region.
As of the 2020 Marche regional election Marche is governed by the centre-right coalition.
| Province of Ancona | AN | 1,940 | 474,630 | 244.6 |
| Province of Ascoli Piceno | AP | 1,228 | 212,846 | 186.2 |
| Province of Fermo | FM | 859 | 177,578 | 206.6 |
| Province of Macerata | MC | 2,774 | 321,973 | 116.1 |
| Province of Pesaro and Urbino | PU | 2,564 | 364,896 | 141.9 |
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