Marche
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{{Infobox Region of Italy |
name = Marche |
fullname = Regione Marche |
isocode = |
capital = [[Ancona]] |
status = [[Regions of Italy|Region]] |
governor = [[Gian Mario Spacca]]<br>(''[[Democracy is Freedom - Daisy|DL]]''-''[[The Union (political coalition)|Union]]'') |
zone = [[CNorthern Italy]] |
province = 5 |
municipality = 246 |
arearank = 15th |
area = 9,694 |
areapercent = 3.2 |
population_as_of = 2006 est. |
populationrank = 6th |
population = 1,542,106 |
populationpercent = 2.6 |
populationdensity = 159 |
coatofarms = [[Image:Flag of Marche.svg|200px]] |
map = [[Image:Italy Regions Marche Map.png]] |
}}
{{For|the [[Belgium|Belgian]] town of Marche|Marche-en-Famenne}}
{{For|the [[video game]] character|Final Fantasy Tactics Advance}}
The '''Marche''' (plural, originally from ''le marche de Ancona'', referring to the [[March of Ancona]]) is one of the 20 [[Regions of Italy]].
It is located in the [[Central Italy|Central area]] of the country, bordering [[Emilia-Romagna]] and the republic of [[San Marino]] to the north, [[Tuscany]] to the north-west, [[Umbria]] to the west, [[Abruzzo]] and [[Lazio]] 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. In the nineteenth century, a railway from [[Bologna]] to [[Brindisi]] linked the Marche along the coastline of the entire territory. Inland, the mountainous nature of the region, even today, allows little communication north and south, except by rough roads over the passes.
<!--MARCHE IS PLURAL-->
==History==
The Marche were known in ancient times as the [[Picenum]] territory. The coastal area was occupied by the [[Senones]], a tribe of [[Gaul]]s. They were conquered by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] after the [[Battle of Sentinum]] in 295 BC. The Romans founded numerous colonies in the areas, connecting them to Rome by the [[Via Flaminia]] and the [[Via Salaria]]. [[Ascoli Piceno|Ascoli]] was a seat of Italic resistance during the [[Social War (91–88 BC)]].
[[Image:07 - Marchia Anconitana olim Picenum, 1635 - Henricus Hondius, Jan Jansson.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ancient map of the Marche by dutch cartographers, seventeenth century.]]
After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the region was invaded by the [[Goths]]. After the [[Gothic War (6th century)|Gothic War]], it was part of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[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 [[Lombard]]s, but was conquered by [[Charlemagne]] in the late eighth century. In the ninth to eleventh centuries the marches of [[Camerino]], [[Fermo]] and [[march of Ancona|Ancona]] were created, whence the modern name.
The Marche were 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 [[House of Malatesta|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, the Marche were firmly part of the [[Papal States]] except during the Napoleonic period, which saw the short lived Republic of Ancona created in 1797, the merging of the region with the [[Roman Republic (1798-1799)|Roman Republic]] and the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]] from 1808 to 1813, and then a short occupation by [[Joachim Murat]]. After Napoleon's defeat, the Marche returned to Papal rule until [[November 4]] [[1860]], when it was annexed to the [[unification of Italy|unified Kingdom of Italy]] by a [[plebiscite]].
==Geography==
[[Image:South Ridge - Monte Vettore.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Panorama of [[Monte Vettore]]. Inner Marche is characterized by mountainous terrain.]]
[[Image:SanBenedettodelTronto mared'inverno.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A sandy beach near [[San Benedetto del Tronto]].]]
[[Image:Urbino-palazzo e borgo.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The medieval town of [[Urbino]].]]
[[Image:Pesarourbino gradara.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Well preserved medieval walls in [[Gradara]].]]
The region is predominantly mountainous, with few coastal plains in which are concentrated almost all major urban centres and economic activity.
The Marche are divided into five provinces:
[[Image:Marche Provinces.png|250px]]
*[[Province of Ancona|Ancona]]
*[[Province of Ascoli Piceno|Ascoli Piceno]]
*[[Province of Fermo|Fermo]]
*[[Province of Macerata|Macerata]]
*[[Province of Pesaro e Urbino|Pesaro e Urbino]]
==Economy==
Under the traditional ''mezzadria'' system, in which products are equally divided between owners and cultivators of the land, the rather unproductive soil and difficult terrain was highly cultivated. In modern times, the shoemaking, paper, furniture and shipbuilding industries were developed in the Marche. The port of Ancona is the only really good harbour, but other small harbours are used by fishing fleets: the Marche thus furnished a large number of sailors to the Italian navy.
==Politics==
The Marche form, along with Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria, the Italian "Red Quadrilateral", a strongly left-wing area. In the [[Italian general election, 2006|April 2006 elections]], the people of Marche gave 55% of their votes to [[Romano Prodi]].
==Demographics==
In 2006, the [[Istituto Nazionale di Statistica|Italian national institute of statistics]] (ISTAT) estimated that 81,890 foreign-born immigrants live in Marche, 5.3% of total regional population.
Towns of Marche with a population of 50,000 or more:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! City
! Population (2006 est.)
|-
| [[Ancona]]
| 101,862
|-
| [[Pesaro]]
| 91,955
|-
| [[Fano]]
| 62,455
|-
| [[Ascoli Piceno]]
| 51,732
|}
==See also==
*[[March of Ancona]]
*[[Papal States]]
*[[Duchy of Urbino]]
*[[House of Malatesta]]
*[[Camerino|Duchy of Camerino]]
==External links==
* [http://www.regione.marche.it/ Official regional website]
* [http://www.imarche.net/ iMarche: Accommodations, gallery, history and more] {{it icon}} {{en icon}}
* [http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/lemarche.gif Map of Marche]
* [http://www.le-marche.com/Marche/index.htm Marche Voyager]
* [http://www.angelorecchi.com/ Food and life in Le Marche]
* [http://drawexp.blogspot.com/ Drawing on Experience, a sketchbook of Le Marche]
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Marche/home.html Gazetteer of the Marche]
{{Regions of Italy}}
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[[Category:Marche| ]]
[[Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union]]
[[Category:Wine regions of Italy]]
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