This is a question lots of our customers ask. The answer, however, varies from stone to stone. Natural stone comes from all around the world. But, there are a few countries that have developed strong quarry industries.

Bianco Stauraio Marble from Italy; photo via Houzz

Originally, Italy was the source of the world’s best stones. Since its early stages, it was a genuine industry. They had a few marble quarries, such as the Carrara, the Travertines, the Botticinos, and the Serpegiantes. They began making high yield stone cutting and polishing machines. The Italians also began to travel around the world and develop new quarries. They’d send the blocks back to Italy, where they’d produce slabs and tiles.

In fact, once upon a time, Marble and Granite, Inc. purchased nearly 100-percent of our inventory from Italy.

However, over the last 25 years, the Brazilians, Indians, Canadians, and South Africans have begun buying machinery and started producing high-quality stone close to the quarries. This had a real economic advantage since it avoided the freight cost of sending blocks to Italy. In fact, Norway was one of the few places that continued to sell blocks that were transported to Italy.

Absolute Black Premium Honed from India

Then, the Chinese got into the industry as well. In the beginning, they encountered problems since there wasn’t an infrastructure of appropriate roads and bridges to carry the material from the quarries to the industrial areas. But development of the industry there has come a long, long way.

Today, most granite comes from Brazil, India, China, and Canada. Most marbles come from Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and China. Basically, if you name a country, we’ll tell you which stones come from there. 

Wicked White Quartzite from Brazil

Note that sometimes the name of a particular stone can be misleading. For example, New Venetian Gold granite comes from Brazil, not Venice, Italy. Often stone producers will use a portion of the name of a popular stone to create demand and mislead the competition from its origins.

When you visit us at Marble & Granite, Inc., you’ll see that each of our slabs is clearly labeled with its country of origin. The label also includes important at-a-glance information such as the name of the material, type (marble or granite), and finish (honed, polished, brushed, etc.) So you’ll never be in the dark about where your natural stone is from.

Sample of information label on Azul Bahia granite

Looking for a certain material from a specific location? Let us help. Visit one of our two showrooms or give us a call at 877-39-STONE. You can also check out our complete inventory online at www.marbleandgranite.com