The History of the Coconut

Coconuts are grown in the Malay Archipelago for 3000 to 4000 years. They gained economic importance with the development of plantations in Ceylon in the 19th century by the Dutch.

Today the cultivation of coconut trees worldwide covers the tropical zones in the coastal regions and along river banks. The main growing countries are Indonesia, the Philippines, and India. The use of copra - the white coconut meat - has greatly increased over the past decades. The coconut production has doubled since 1980.

The coconut palm covers 8% of the consumption of the vegetable oils in the world today.