Breadbasket
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Terraxos
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{{This|the cultural/political concept|Basket (disambiguation)}}
{{unreferenced|date=June 2008}}
The '''Breadbasket''' of a country is a region which, because of richness of [[soil]] or advantageous [[climate]], produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. A similar term is the '''Granary''' of a given country. As such the ownership of such regions are historically the subject of fierce military disputes.
==Regional breadbaskets/granaries==
===[[Classical antiquity]]===
[[Sicilia]] and [[Africa Province|Africa]] were considered the breadbaskets of the [[Roman Republic]]. Later on [[Aegyptus (Roman province)|Egypt]] was considered the breadbasket of the [[Roman Empire]].
===Africa===
[[Zimbabwe]] was called the breadbasket of Africa until the [[Land reform in Zimbabwe]].
===Portugal===
Around the 1970's, [[Alentejo]] was considered the breadbasket of [[Portugal]].
===India===
The [[Punjab region]] is considered the breadbasket of India and Pakistan.
===Russia===
During Tsarist times the [[Little Russia|Ukrainian provinces]] of the [[Russian Empire]] were referred to as the Empire's breadbasket. During the Soviet era, the mantle passed to the [[Ukrainian SSR]].
There is also the [[Central Black Earth Region]] within [[Russia]] proper.
===North America===
North America's [[Great Plains]] are a common breadbasket shared between Canada and the United States.
====Canada====
In Canada the grain-growing areas are also called the [[Canadian prairies]]. Sometimes the province of [[Saskatchewan]] 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]].
====Studies on regionalism====
This region also shares some cultural and political traits which lead the authors of two books on [[Regionalism (politics)|regionalism]] in North America to argue that they form a separate "nation."
In the book ''[[Nine Nations of North America]]'', author [[Joel Garreau]] identifies the "Breadbasket" as one of nine cultural "nations" in North America.
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]], northern and central [[Illinois]] except for the immediate [[Chicago metropolitan area]], [[Wisconsin]] except for the [[Lake Michigan]] shoreline, the northern half of [[Michigan]]'s [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan|Upper Peninsula]], the states of [[Minnesota]], [[Iowa]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Nebraska]] and [[Kansas]] in their entirety, the easternmost tier of counties in [[Montana]], [[Wyoming]], [[Colorado]] and northern [[New Mexico]], the northern and western portions of [[Missouri]] and [[Oklahoma]], and the [[Texas Panhandle]].
{{wiktionary}}
[[Category:Agricultural terminology]]
[[ja:穀倉地帯]]