Le Marche (pronounced "Le Mar-kay") is the 15th largest region in Italia, being 9,401 sq km (3,630 sq mi) in area. It's located on the east (Adriatic) coast, about half way down with Emilia Romagna to its north west, Abruzzo to the south east, and Umbria on its land (western, roughly) side.

The region has five provinces.
[*]Ancona (AN)
[*]Ascoli Piceno (AP)
[*]Fermo (FM)
[*]Macerata (MC)
[*]Pesaro and Urbino (PU)

I mention this mainly because Ascoli Piceno is the home and namesake of olive all'ascolana, olives which are pitted, stuffed with meat and fried. I've had various attempts at the dish but really need to go to the source to try them there.

Off the top of my head we didn't go there at all on the 2019 trip. On the 2016 trip we visited the city of Urbino (PU province) briefly, but I think that was it.

The name comes from the same root as the English word "March"; not the month or a military walk, but in the now almost forgotten meaning of "an area of land on the border between two countries or territories" (per the Oxford dictionary). In this case, one of its provinces (Ancona) was on the border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States as were. Over time the name came to be applied to the entire region.