World map of gemstone deposits

The geography of gems

Precious stones are not scattered randomly across the planet: they follow geology. Our interactive world map highlights the twenty-nine great gem lands — hover over or tap a golden country to discover its treasures and the story of its deposits.

The great gem powers

Brazil is the world giant of coloured stones: amethyst, imperial topaz, Paraíba tourmaline, aquamarine, citrine. Colombia holds the emeralds of Muzo and Chivor, unanimously considered the finest in the world. Burma produces the “pigeon's blood” rubies of Mogok, the costliest colour in the mineral kingdom, as well as imperial jade. Sri Lanka has exported its Ceylon sapphires for two thousand years.

Australia supplies 95% of the planet's opals — sometimes mined underground at Coober Pedy, where miners live in dwellings carved out of the rock to escape the heat — and produced the famous Argyle pink diamonds. Botswana is the world's leading diamond producer by value. Tanzania holds the world's only tanzanite deposit, at the foot of Kilimanjaro. Mozambique has overtaken Burma on ruby with the giant Montepuez deposit.

Deposits of legend

Some places transcend geology and enter history. The lapis lazuli of Badakhshan, in Afghanistan, has been mined for 6,500 years: it is that blue which adorns Tutankhamun's mask and which, ground into ultramarine, coloured the madonnas of the Renaissance. The turquoise of Nishapur, in Iran, remains the absolute world benchmark. The peridot of Zabargad Island, in Egypt, was mined at night by the pharaohs — the stone was said to glow in the dark.

And France is not absent: fluorite from the Tarn and the Puy-de-Dôme, Alpine quartz, Auvergne amethyst, agates from the Estérel.