A new study discussed at the 2nd International Conference for Date Palm (ICDP 2016) in Qassim, Saudi Arabia, said Egypt is the highest global date producer with 18 percent of world production. 

According to the study, Saudi Arabia came second by producing 15 percent of world date production while 13 countries in the Middle East were collectively producing 95 percent of dates. 

The study, published by the Saudi state news agency SPA, said Iran and United Arab Emirates came after Saudi Arabia and before Iraq which placed the fifth on list of the countries. 

The conference, held at Qassim University, was attended by 384 researchers, including 318 researchers from Arab and non-Arab countries. 

According to a research published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the date palm was used by ancient Egyptians as the symbol for a year in Egyptian hieroglyphics and its frond as a symbol for a month. 

Houses of these very ancient people were roofed with palm tree trunks and fronds. The uses of date for medicinal purposes, in addition to its food value, were also documented.