Diamonds are a coveted and highly sought after jewel or gem. When they are polished and shaped, diamonds are worth a lot of money with some diamonds even considered priceless. However, the most valuable ones that have been given a dollar worth are upwards of $350 and $400 million. There are about 35 countries in which you might find a diamond, but most won’t be worth even $1 million much less $400 million. In this post, we will discuss some of the top diamond producing countries you can visit.
Russia:
Surprisingly enough, Russia is the number one producer of diamonds in the world. It accounts for about 22% of the world’s diamond supply. Because of its geographical location, Russia is rich with natural resources and diamonds just so happen to be one of them. Interestingly, Russia is also known for producing Russian lab diamonds, sometimes referred to as synthetic diamonds. This is because they are produced artificially in a lab and are not natural diamonds from the ground. To tell the difference and make sure you’ve bought a legitimate Russian diamond, it is recommended that you purchase a diamond with a certificate stating where it was mined, carats & clarity.
Botswana:
Botswana, a country in southern Africa, is very well known because of its diamond industry. Historically, diamond mining in Africa caused all kinds of problems for governments, civilians, wars, economy, etc. When diamonds were first discovered in Botswana in the 1960s, the government decided to take advantage and invest all of the revenue from mining back into the country in the hopes of creating more income streams. It has worked well and Botswana is estimated to be the African country with the fourth-highest gross national income.
The Democratic Republic of Congo:
In contrast to Botswana, the Republic of Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite it having contributed 19% of the diamonds to the industry worth $81.4 billion worldwide. However, because of the poverty levels in the Congo and the large diamond trade, it has caused numerous Congolese wars that have plagued the country on and off for decades. In fact, this is an excellent example of the term “blood diamond.” A blood diamond is a diamond mined in a war zone and used to pay off a warlord or finance a revolution or insurgency. They have played a large part in civil wars across Africa. This is one of the reasons the diamond trade is looked down upon most of the time by human rights activists.
The United States of America:
While the United States isn’t even in the top 10 diamond-producing countries in the world, it does have diamond mines, and one is even open to the public. Diamonds can be found in Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. The Arkansas mine is called the Crater of Diamonds and is the only mine open to the public. Anyone can go mine for diamonds and you get to keep whatever you find. Because of this, a couple of people have become wealthy because of a diamond they found in Arkansas.