Marche

The Marche are a region of central Italy, bordering Emilia-Romagna at north, Tuscany at the north-west, Umbria at west, Abruzzo and Latium at south and the Adriatic Sea at east.

The regional capital is Ancona. The region is divided into five provinces: Ancona, Ascoli Piceno, Fermo, Macerata, and Pesaro e Urbino, that were part of ancient Umbria. The provinces of the Marche have distinct histories, largely owing to the geography of the region: except for the river valleys and the often very narrow coastal strip, the land is hilly. In the 19th century a railroad from Bologna to Brindisi linked the Marche along the coast-line of the entire territory: inland, the mountainous nature of the region even today allows little communication between north and south, except by rough roads.

In a traditional mezzadria system, under which products are equally divided between the owners and the cultivators of the land, the rather unproductive soil and difficult terrain was fairly highly cultivated. The port of Ancona was the only really good harbor, the other small harbors were used by fishing fleets: the Marche furnished a large contingent of sailors to the Italian navy.

Abruzzo
Basilicata
Calabria
Campania
Emilia-Romagna
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Latium
Liguria
Lombardy
Marche
Molise
Umbria
Piedmont
Apulia
Sardinia
Sicily
Tuscany
Trentino-South Tyrol
Aosta Valley
Veneto