Norcia, traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia, is a town and comune in the province of Perugia (Italy) in southeastern Umbria. Unlike many ancient towns, it is located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a subrange of the Apennines with some of its highest peaks, near the Sordo River, a small stream that eventually flows into the Nera. The town is popularly associated with the Valnerina. It is a member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.

The province of Perugia is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia. The province covered all of Umbria until 1927, when the province of Terni was carved out of its southern third. The province of Perugia has an area of 6,334 km2 covering two-thirds of Umbria, and a total population of about 660,000. There are 59 comuni in the province. The province has numerous tourist attractions, especially artistic and historical ones, and is home to the Lake Trasimeno, the largest lake of Central Italy. It is historically the ancestral origin of the Umbri, while later it was a Roman province and then part of the Papal States until the late 19th century.