The Umbri were an ancient people classified as an Italic group who inhabited inner central Italy during the Iron Age. Their territory was situated approximately between the middle Tiber River and the central Apennines, bounded by the Tiber and Nar rivers and including the Apennine slopes on the Adriatic.
Most ancient Umbrian cities were established between the 9th and 4th centuries BCE on easily defensible hilltops. The ancient Umbrian language is part of the Osco-Umbrian branch of the Italic languages, which is an Indo-European subfamily that also includes the Latino-Faliscan languages.
A region currently known as Umbria exists in this area today and is inhabited by Italian speakers. This modern region is somewhat smaller than the territory occupied by the ancient Umbri.