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For thousands of years, olive oil had been prominent in all the greatest civilizations that have prospered in Tunisia. Indeed, the olive tree have been cultivated by Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Arabs, in a tradition that has been passed down from father to son ever since.
Olive cultivation in Tunisia dates back to the 8th century BC, even before the founding of Carthage by the Queen Dido. The Phoenicians were the first to introduce this cultivation to North Africa. In the Carthaginian period, olive cultivation started to spread granting several advantages to olive-growers. The expansion continued thanks to Romans who established intensified irrigation techniques and revolutionized olive oil extraction. Today, Tunisia became the biggest olive oil producer, outside the European Union, arriving in the third position after Spain and Italy.