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The Breadbasket or the Granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
 and/or advantageous climate
Climate

Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, atmospheric pressure, winds, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other Meteorology elements in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity of these same elements....
, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice Bowl is a similar term used in South East Asia. Such regions may be the subject of fierce military disputes.

lia and Africa
Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
 were considered the breadbaskets of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
.






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The Breadbasket or the Granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
 and/or advantageous climate
Climate

Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, atmospheric pressure, winds, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other Meteorology elements in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity of these same elements....
, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice Bowl is a similar term used in South East Asia. Such regions may be the subject of fierce military disputes.

Regional breadbaskets/granaries


Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....

Sicilia and Africa
Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
 were considered the breadbaskets of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
. Later on Egypt
Aegyptus (Roman province)

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe History of Roman Egypt begins with the conquest of Egypt in 30 BC by Augustus , following the defeat of Mark Antony and History of Ptolemaic Egypt Queen Cleopatra VII in the Battle of Actium....
 was considered the breadbasket of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.

Africa

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 was called the breadbasket of Africa until the Land reform in Zimbabwe
Land reform in Zimbabwe

Land reform in Zimbabwe began after the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979 in an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-Whites in Zimbabwes who ruled Zimbabwe from 1923 to 1979....
.

Portugal

Around the 1970's, Alentejo
Alentejo

Alentejo is a south-central region of Portugal. Its name's origin, "Al?m-Tejo", literally translates to "Beyond the Tagus" or "Across the Tagus"....
 was considered the breadbasket of Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
.

India

The Punjab region
Punjab region

Punjab , also Panjab , is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. The "Five Rivers" are Beas River, Ravi River, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum River; all these are tributaries of the Indus river, Jhelum being the biggest one....
 is considered the breadbasket of India and Pakistan.

Russia

During Tsarist times the Ukrainian provinces
Little Russia

Little Russia, sometimes Little or Lesser Etymology of Rus and derivatives , was the name for a part of the historically settled territory of modern-day Ukraine before the twentieth century, at the time of the Russian Empire and earlier....
 of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 were referred to as the Empire's breadbasket. During the Soviet era, the mantle passed to the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or the Ukrainian SSR was one of the founders of the USSR and a republic that made up the former Soviet Union from its formation in 1922 to its abolishment in 1991....
.

There is also the Central Black Earth Region
Central Black Earth Region

Central Black Earth Region or Central Chernozem Region is a segment of the Eurasian chernozem belt that lies within Central Russia and comprises Voronezh Oblast, Lipetsk Oblast, Belgorod Oblast, Tambov Oblast, Oryol Oblast and Kursk Oblast....
 within Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 proper.

Australia

The Murray-Darling Basin
Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling Basin is 3,375 km long, drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural area in Australia....
 is seen as Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
's breadbasket, being the source of 40% of the nation's agricultural income, a third of the wheat harvest, 95% of the rice crop and other products such as fruit, wine and cotton.

New Zealand

When New Zealand became a British colony
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
, the fertile lands produced food that would be shipped back to England, causing New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 to become colloquially known (occasionally along with Australia) as 'Britain's Breadbasket', subsequently leading to the Dunedin
Dunedin (ship)

The Dunedin was the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigeration meat. In its capacity, it helped set the stage for New Zealand's success as a major provider of agricultural exports, notwithstanding its extreme remoteness from most markets....
 being the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigerated meat, she was refitted with a refrigeration machine with which she took the first load of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

North America

North America's Great Plains
Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
 are a common breadbasket shared between Canada and the United States.
Canada
In Canada the grain-growing areas are also called the Canadian prairies
Canadian Prairies

The Canadian Prairies is a list of regions of Canada of Canada, specifically in Western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political....
. Sometimes the province of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie provinces in Canada, which has an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres and a population of 1,015,895 , mostly living in the southern half of the province....
 also known for producing a huge supplement of potash is further singled out from within this region as the main "Breadbasket" of Canada .
United States
In the US, this region is called the Grain Belt
Grain Belt

Grain Belt The Grain Belt is an informal name for a United States region composed of the prairie-region U.S. states across the Midwest....
.
Studies on regionalism
This region also shares some cultural and political traits which lead the authors of two books on regionalism
Regionalism (politics)

Regionalism is a term used in international relations. Regionalism also constitutes one of the three constituents of the international trade . It refers to the expression of a common sense of identity and purpose combined with the creation and implementation of institutions that express a particular identity and shape collective action within...
 in North America to argue that they form a separate "nation."

In the book Nine Nations of North America
Nine Nations of North America

The Nine Nations of North America is a book written in 1981 by Joel Garreau. In it, Garreau argues that North America can be divided into nine regions, or "nations", which have distinctive economic and cultural features....
, author Joel Garreau
Joel Garreau

Joel Garreau is an American journalist and author. Currently he works as the editor in charge of "cultural revolution" reporting at The Washington Post, as senior fellow at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and principal of The Garreau Group, which is "dedicated to the creation of more liveable and profitable urban...
 identifies the "Breadbasket" as one of nine cultural "nations" in North America. The Kansas City
Kansas City

Kansas City may refer to:* Kansas City Metropolitan Area, metropolitan area surrounding Kansas City, Missouri includes territory in both Missouri and Kansas....
 Metropolitan Area would have served as the "capital" of this region.

In the book The Day America Told The Truth by James Patterson and Peter Kim, this region is called the Granary instead, but its boundaries are essentially the same as those Garreau drew for the Breadbasket.

Both books include western Indiana
Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
, northern and central Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
 except for the immediate Chicago metropolitan area, Wisconsin
Wisconsin

Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
 except for the Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The third-largest of the Great Lakes, it is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S....
 shoreline, the northern half of Michigan
Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
's Upper Peninsula
Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that comprise the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan....
, the states of Minnesota
Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
, Iowa
Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
, North Dakota
North Dakota

North Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States and Western United States regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006....
, South Dakota
South Dakota

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
, Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
 and Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
 in their entirety, the easternmost tier of counties in Montana
Montana

Montana is a U.S. state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains....
, Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
, Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
 and northern New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
, the northern and western portions of Missouri
Missouri

Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
 and Oklahoma
Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
, and the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 List of Texas counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by the state of New Mexico to the west and the state of Oklahoma to the north and east....
.

Rice Bowl in Southeast Asia

The delta of Chao Phraya in Thailand as well as the plains of Java
Java

Java is an island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu kingdoms, The spread of Islam in Indonesia , and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia....
 of Indonesia are considered the rice bowls of the region. The same could be applied to the delta of the Mekong
Mekong

The Mekong River is one of the world?s major rivers. It is the 12th-longest river in the world, and 7th longest in Asia. . Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of ....
 in Vietnam.

The Irrawady delta in Myanmar used to be one of the most important source of rice in the region until its production declined due to various reasons, including its unstable political situation.