Where in Asia are potatoes more popular and where is rice more popular?

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We’ve seen how the stereotypical butter-olive oil divide in Europe is a real thing. There is actually a similar divide in Asia. But in this case it’s about rice and potatoes.

In Asia there is a very strong north-west south-east divide. Southeast Asia is the rice stronghold, where the world’s biggest consumers of rice are located. Central Asia (together with Eastern Europe) is the world’s potato stronghold. The Central Asian countries are one of the biggest consumers of potatoes in the world.

The data for this map comes from the FAO. It’s based on the annual per capita consumption of potatoes and rice.