Of course, Italian food is iconic. Pasta, pizza, pesto, wine, cheese — we could go on and on. But there is one vegetable that grows across the peninsula that the Italians absolutely love: artichokes.

According to Atlas Big, worldwide artichoke production totals 1,594,385 metric tons per year. Of the three countries that grow the most artichokes, Italy tops the pack at 378,820 metric tons per year. Egypt comes second at 296,899 metric tons, and Spain rounds out the trifecta at 199,940 metric tons.