The fruit of the Ficus carica, or fig tree, has a reddish, dark red, or green skin depending on the variety, and a pulp full of tiny seeds. Its origins trace back to Caria, a region in Asia Minor. Evidence of its cultivation dates to the earliest agricultural civilizations in Palestine and Egypt, from where it later spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. While it's often called the "Mediterranean Fig," it is considered native and common to the southern Caucasus regions and the southern Turan lowlands.
Only after the discovery of America did the fig spread to that continent, and later to South Africa. Through contact with the East, it reached China and Japan, and eventually Australia.
Fig cultivation has developed in various parts of the world, but significantly only in the warm, arid climates of the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean basin, besides Italy, there are important fig crops in Turkey, Greece, Algeria, Spain, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, and France. There are countless cultivated varieties, but I prefer the black Brogiotti fig.