California, USA

In the United States, Almonds are California's top agricultural export and the largest tree nut crop, both in total dollar value and acreage. Almonds are also the United States' largest specialty crop export. Over the past thirty years, California's almond yields have quadrupled. Thanks to a heavy influence of Franciscan Monks, almonds were first brought to California from Spain in the 1700s. California's Central Valley has a world renowned Mediterranean climate, which has helped the almond industry to blossom. Almonds are grown in a geographic area that stretches over 300 miles from the South-Central regions of Bakersfield, just north of the metropolis of Los Angeles, all the way to the Northern regions of the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento. There are over thirty different varieties of almonds, with about ten of them making up the majority of California's production. The United States' domestic consumption is about 30-40%, with the remaining 60-70% of the total production being sold into the global export markets.