A banana is an edible fruit produced by several types of herbaceous flowering plants. The scientific name of the banana is Musa Acuminata. It belongs to the Musaceae Paradisiaca family and to the monocotyledon group. The most common name is banana, but they can also be called edible bananas. The goal of this report is for the public to understand the history, economic significance, place of origin, and current distribution of the banana. Bananas were originally found in Southeast Asia, mainly India. They were brought to the West later by Arab conquerors in 327 BC. Bananas moved from Asia to Africa transported by early explorers and missionaries to the Caribbean. Bananas eventually arrived in South America with the help of Portuguese sailors. Sailors brought the plant from the coast of West Africa. In today's world, bananas are the most popular fruit. They are also the most important crops in the world grown by small- and large-scale producers. Bananas are basically giant herbaceous plants rather than trees. There are approximately 50 species of the Musa genus. The genus is divided into three or five sections depending on the number of chromosomes in each plant. Furthermore, today we recognize over a thousand different types of banana and plantain growers. The economic importance of bananas consists of two factors: generations of export earnings and employment for people in different countries. Currently, small populations of bananas are produced in the United States. Of the fifty states, only two produce bananas. Hawaii is the largest producer in the United States, followed by Florida. Banana production in Hawaii was 14,500 in 2000 and 14,000 in 2001. The average cost of production is... half the paper......ns while the Philippines produces about half a million tons. Both are mainly exported to Japan. Nearly nine million tons of bananas are grown in the tropics of Africa. Large quantities are usually shipped to Europe. In the American region, banana exports decreased. From 1979 to 1980 the average was 80%, but in the 2000s the number dropped to 70%. In the same period, South America was the only country to progress from 28% to 40%. Banana imports are moderately concentrated. The main import areas are Europe, the United States and Japan. Together, all three countries account for at least seventy percent of the world's imports. Banana imports have had an incredible growth rate in recent decades. Works Cited http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/docs/hibananas.html