The olive tree

📖 In short

The olive is a blessed evergreen tree with silvery-green leaves that grows in the mild, warm lands around the Mediterranean. Its fruit is pressed to make olive oil, and green and black olives are eaten after pickling. It is mentioned in the Qur'an.

🤩 Did you know?

The world produces millions of tonnes of olives every year.
Spain, Italy, Greece and Tunisia are among the biggest olive oil producers.
The olive branch is a symbol of peace.
Olive oil is good for the heart, and is eaten with bread and thyme.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 A very long-lived tree

Olive trees live for hundreds and even thousands of years, and their trunks become twisted and knotty with age. There are very old olive trees in Palestine, Lebanon and Tunisia.

🔍 Harvest time

In autumn families gather to pick olives: they spread a cloth under the tree and shake the branches or tap them gently with sticks, and the olives fall.

💡 The olive press

The olives are washed and crushed in the press into a paste, which is then squeezed, and golden-green olive oil comes out.

🎯 Green and black

Green and black olives come from the same tree! Green ones are picked before they're ripe, and black ones are left to ripen. Olives aren't eaten straight from the tree because they're very bitter; they're soaked and pickled first.