Encyclopedia of Global Resources part 105 provides a wide variety of perspectives on both traditional and more recent views of Earth's resources. It serves as a bridge connecting the domains of resource exploitation, environmentalism, geology, and biology, and it explains their interrelationships in terms that students and other nonspecialists can understand. The articles in this set are extremely diverse, with articles covering soil, fisheries, forests, aluminum, the Industrial Revolution, the . Department of the Interior, the hydrologic cycle, glass, and placer mineral deposits. . | 968 Portugal Global Resources trading olives and olive oils dates to the days when Portugal was an important point for ancient trade routes through Europe. Evidence of olive oil production in Roman times is found in Portugal and olives and olive oil are still staples of Portuguese cooking. The Alentejo area has a climate conducive to growing olive trees with soils rich in calcium and potassium which increase olive production. Portuguese olive oil is known for its golden color and sweet flavor with hints of apple and fig and some of Portugal s native olive oils are protected by origin regulations. Producers of Portuguese olive oil who use the protected denomination of origin label must use only olives from certain areas and follow a strict set of rules about the production of the oils. One special type of olive oil particular to Portugal and specific to the Moura region and protected under these origin regulations is called Azeite de Moura. This olive oil has low acidity a pleasant greenish-yellow color and a superior fruity odor and taste. Other regions where olive oil is produced include Norte Alentejano the upper Douro and the Tras-os-Montes. Tomato Products Portugal is the world s largest exporter of tomato paste. It produces about 9 percent of the tomatoes grown worldwide with an average of about 864 000 metric tons per year making it the eighth largest producer of tomato products in the world. Tomatoes are grown mainly northwest of Lisbon with about 80 percent of the tomato crop produced in the Ribatejo region. Another major tomato production region is Alentejo in the southwest where about 10 percent of the total tomato crop is produced. The wide day-to-night temperature variations in these regions enhance the tomato s color and the climate of these regions with spring rains and very dry summers enhance production. Though most of the tomatoes were previously grown on family farms the industry is moving toward mechanization and larger commercial farms which may
