Marijuana grows on every inhabited continent, from high-altitude mountain slopes to climate-controlled warehouses in urban centers. The plant is remarkably adaptable, thriving in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates between roughly 27° and 44° latitude, though indoor cultivation has made geography almost irrelevant for commercial production. Where it’s grown depends largely on legal status, climate, and market demand.
Where Cannabis Grows Wild
Before humans cultivated it commercially, cannabis grew wild across Central Asia, and it still does. A hardy variety known as ruderalis is native to Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, with large wild populations found in Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, and neighboring countries. It also grows in the northern Himalayas and across the southern regions of the former Soviet Union. These wild plants tend to be sparse and weedy compared to cultivated strains, but they’re tough enough to survive harsh winters and short growing seasons. Wild cannabis also pops up as a roadside weed across the American Midwest, a remnant of industrial hemp farming from the early 1900s.
Major Legal Growing Regions
The legal cannabis map has expanded dramatically in the past decade. In the United States, states like California, Colorado, Oregon, and Oklahoma are among the largest producers. California’s Emerald Triangle, spanning Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity counties in the northern part of the state, has been the country’s most famous growing region for decades. A study of over 1,300 documented cultivation sites in Humboldt County found that growers set up on a wide variety of terrain. Slope, sun exposure, and distance to water didn’t significantly predict where farms appeared, suggesting that regulatory conditions and community networks mattered more than geography alone.
Internationally, Canada and the United Kingdom dominate the legal export market. Canada exported 141 tonnes of cannabis in 2023, accounting for 41.4% of global production for medical and scientific purposes. The UK followed closely at 124.1 tonnes (36.4%), with Portugal in third at 21.7 tonnes (6.3%). Canada’s large-scale licensed facilities are concentrated in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. The UK’s production is largely pharmaceutical, grown in controlled environments for export rather than domestic recreational use.
Other significant legal producers include Israel, which has long been a hub for medical cannabis research and cultivation, and countries like Colombia and Uruguay in South America, where favorable climates and lower labor costs make outdoor production economical. In Africa, Lesotho and South Africa have licensed medical cannabis operations, and Morocco remains one of the world’s largest producers of cannabis resin, with some recent moves toward regulated medical production.
Europe’s Expanding Cultivation
Europe is opening up to domestic cannabis growing. Germany passed sweeping reforms that, as of July 2024, allow “Cannabis Social Clubs,” registered nonprofit associations where members collectively grow cannabis for personal use. Companies cultivating medicinal cannabis in Germany can now market and distribute their own harvest without going through EU-wide tender processes, removing a major bureaucratic barrier. The Netherlands, long tolerant of cannabis sales through its coffeeshop system, has launched pilot programs for legal domestic cultivation to replace the previously gray-market supply chain. Spain’s private cannabis clubs, concentrated in Catalonia and the Basque Country, have operated in a legal gray area for years.
Indoor, Outdoor, and Greenhouse Growing
Cannabis is grown in three basic settings: outdoors in open fields, inside greenhouses, and in fully enclosed indoor facilities. Outdoor growing is cheapest and most traditional, relying on natural sunlight and seasonal cycles. It works best in regions with mild temperatures, low humidity during the flowering stage, and long summer days. Subtropical zones between about 23° and 33° latitude, both north and south, offer some of the best natural conditions. The Iberian Peninsula (36° to 44° north), parts of Northern California, and regions of Australia around northern New South Wales, where summer temperatures range from the mid-20s to mid-30s Celsius, are all well-suited.
Indoor cultivation flips the equation entirely. By controlling light, temperature, and humidity, growers can produce cannabis anywhere, from downtown Denver to a warehouse in the Netherlands. Indoor grows typically yield higher-potency flower because every environmental variable can be optimized. The tradeoff is energy: indoor facilities use enormous amounts of electricity for lighting, climate control, and ventilation, producing significant greenhouse gas emissions that vary depending on the local power grid. Researchers at Colorado State University have noted that the industry is still so new that no one has reliable data on what share of total production is indoor versus outdoor.
Greenhouse growing splits the difference. It captures free sunlight while allowing growers to supplement with artificial light and control temperature. Many large-scale operations in Canada, the Netherlands, and Portugal use greenhouse setups to reduce costs while maintaining quality.
Where Illicit Cannabis Is Grown
Despite legalization in many countries, most of the world’s cannabis is still grown illegally. Morocco’s Rif Mountains have historically been the single largest source of cannabis resin (hashish) for European markets. In Latin America, Mexico, Paraguay, and Colombia all have extensive illicit outdoor cultivation, often in remote mountainous areas that are difficult for authorities to access.
In the United States, illegal grows persist even in states where cannabis is legal. The U.S. Forest Service has documented cannabis operations hidden in national forests, placed in sensitive and remote areas where visitors are unlikely to stumble upon them. Growers favor southern or western slopes for sun exposure, but sites have been found at elevations as high as 9,000 feet and in virtually every type of terrain and habitat. These operations are an environmental concern because they often involve pesticide runoff, water diversion from streams, and habitat destruction.
Parts of Southeast Asia, particularly Myanmar and Laos, also have significant illicit production, along with regions of sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Scale of Global Production
The legal side of cannabis cultivation is growing fast. The global cannabis cultivation market was valued at roughly $649 billion in 2025, with projections reaching nearly $2.9 trillion by 2034 at an annual growth rate of about 18%. That figure includes both medical and recreational markets across all legal jurisdictions. As more countries legalize or decriminalize, production is shifting from a handful of pioneer regions to a genuinely global industry, with new licensed farms appearing in Thailand, Australia, and across Europe alongside the established powerhouses in North America.