Via International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR):

Bamboos are giant, woody grasses which put out several full length, full diameter, naturally pre-finished, ready-to-use culms ("stems") each year. A single bamboo clump can produce up to 15 kilometres of usable pole (up to 30 cm in diameter) in its lifetime. Bamboo is the most diverse group of plants in the grass family, and the most primitive sub-family. It is distinguished by a woody culm, complex branching, a generally robust rhizome system and infrequent flowering.

It has a tropical and subtropical (cosmopolitan) distribution, ranging from 46 N to 47S latitude, reaching elevations as high as 4,000 m in the Himalayas and parts of China. Bamboo is very adaptable, with some species being deciduous and others evergreen. The taxonomy of the bamboo remains poorly understood, though the general consensus seems to be that bamboo numbers between 60 and 90 genera with 1,100 to 1,500 species.

Described as the "wood of the poor" (India), "friend of the people" (China) and "brother" (Vietnam), bamboo is a wonder plant that grows over wide areas of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. Millions of people depend on this plant for their livelihood. It has become so much a part of the culture and memory of societies that the existence of a Bamboo Age has not been ruled out. Its use in food and cooking goes far back in history.

Exports of bamboo shoots from Taiwan alone amount to $50 million (US). Apart from traditional uses, bamboo has many new applications as a substitute for fast depleting wood and as an alternative to more expensive materials. Modern paper industry has expanded to such an extent that 2.2 million tonnes of bamboo are used in India for this purpose. Bamboo furniture is an expanding business. In the Philippines, between 1985-1994, exports rose from $625,000 to $1.2 million.

Bamboo's potential for checking soil erosion and for road embankment stabilization are now becoming known. It is equally important for providing fast vegetative cover to deforested areas. Bamboo's role in the construction field is equally substantial. Hundreds of millions of people live in houses made from bamboo. In Bangladesh, 73% of the population live in bamboo houses. It provides pillars, walls, window frames, rafters, room separators, ceilings and roofs.

In Borneo and in the Naga Hills of India, large communal houses of 100 feet in length have been built of bamboo. Throughout rural Asia it is used for building bridges, from the sophisticated technology of suspension bridges to the simpler pontoon bridges. Bamboo scaffoldings are found throughout Asia, and they are employed on the high rise structures of Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Bamboo is also used for musical instruments of all three types: percussion or hammer instruments, wind instruments, and stringed instruments. In Java, 20 different musical instruments have been fashioned of bamboo. The flute may have been invented by cave people toying with a hollow bamboo stem.