Newly planted olive groves, Zaghouan, Tunisia

© Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Getty Images

Newly planted olive groves, Zaghouan, Tunisia

It may be an aerial view, but you certainly can’t look down upon this valuable Tunisian crop – the olive. Olive groves have grown in the Mediterranean since ancient times and some centuries-old groves still produce fruit. The olives are harvested in autumn and winter, most often by shaking the boughs of the tree. Most olives are destined to become olive oil, which has a wide range of uses here, from skincare to cooking to religious ceremonies. While Spain is the world’s top producer of the ‘liquid gold’, Tunisia produces nearly as much.