Olive trees make Syria one of the largest producer of olive oil

Olive trees have spread all over Syria and today they represent one major aspect of the country's landscape.

In Aleppo, the number of olive trees has increased enormously in the past twenty years. It jumped from 3,379,000 in 1975 to 17,402,000 in 1997. Olive tree plantation is not much different from Aleppo than in the other Syrian provinces.

The number of olive trees in Syria today is estimated to be about 60 million. There are many olive oil presses with a production capacity estimated at 3,000 tonnes per day to extract olive oil.

Some 24 factories use olive oil to produce soap in Syria.

Syria's production of olive oil in 1998 was more than 230,000 tonnes.

Moreover, Syria is placed 6th in the world and the second among the Arab states among olive oil producing countries if the area of land used is taken into consideration.