Most probably, the origin of the groundnut was Brazil. At present, its production is important in the southern European countries and in some Asian countries.

The peanut produced in Spain is of great commercial value and it is cultivated in the Mediterranean areas.

For a long time there have been different theories on the origin of groundnuts, but finally it has been accepted that it comes from the tropical part of South America, probably from Brazil, from where it arrived at Guinea in the XVIth century by means of the first slave dealers and the Portuguese navigators at the Asian islands. In Spain the archbishop of Valencia, Fabian de Tuero, introduced the groundnut culture, in the period of Carlos III. Later on, the Spaniards took it to Indonesia and cultivation was introduced in China and India. These Asian countries produce at the moment around two thirds of the world harvest, and it is also an important oil source in tropical America, occupying the second place in respect with oil palm in Africa.

Groundnut production is important in several countries of southern Europe, mainly in France, Italy and Portugal.

In Spain, groundnuts of great commercial value are produced in the Mediterranean areas, as Valencia, Malaga and Huelva.

In the world 34,000,000 thousand tons are produced. The distribution of the production by continents is as follows:

Continent	Thousand tons
Africa	8,195,578
Asia	23,670,925
Europe	12,411
North America	1,738,864
Oceania	41,730
South America	862,569
Total	34,522,107

Source: The FAO Production (2000)

The main producing country is China and the groundnut production is important also in several countries in the south of Europe.

Country	Thousand tons
China	15,067,155
India	6,100,000
Nigeria	2,783,000
U.S.A.	1,491,000
Sudan	980,000
Senegal	828,324
Bulgaria	10,000
Greece	2,000
Spain	136
Portugal	25

Source: The FAO Production (2000)

The main import countries of shell groundnuts are:

Country	Thousand tons
Italy	16,959
Germany	16,605
The Netherlands	12,346
Spain	11,935
Malaysia	10,209
Indonesia	8,569
Yemen	8,332
Canada	7,987
México	3,699
U.S.A.	2,079

Source: The FAO Trade (2000)

The main exporting countries are China and the U.S.A.. The amount of shell groundnuts exported in these and other countries are the following:

Country	Thousand tons
China	55,786
The U.S.A.	22,743
Paraguay	14,158
India	11,000
Israel	8,314
Indonesia	3,243
Belgium-Luxembourg	2,619
Thailand	2,248
Mexico	2,223
The Netherlands	1,506

Source: The FAO Trade (2000).