What is "kalamata olive"

n. A small-fruited cultivar of olive originating in southern Greece around http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamata and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mani%20peninsula producing a prized, high-quality oil.

The Kalamata olive is a large purple olive with a smooth, meaty texture named after the city of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. Often used as table olives, they are usually preserved in wine vinegar or olive oil. Kalamata olives in the European Union (EU) have PDO status, whereby only olives originating from the Kalamata region have the right to be branded as Kalamata if sold in the EU. Olives of the same variety grown elsewhere are marketed as Kalamon olives.