Which region is thought to be the home of ginger?

Ginger is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine.

Ginger originated from Maritime Southeast Asia. It is a true cultigen and does not exist in its wild state. The most ancient evidence of its domestication is among the Austronesian peoples where it was among several species of ginger cultivated and exploited since ancient times. The rhizomes and the leaves were used to flavour food or eaten directly. The leaves were also used to weave mats. Aside from these uses, ginger had religious significance among Austronesians, being used in rituals for healing and for asking protection from spirits. It was also used in the blessing of Austronesian ships.

Ginger was carried with them in their voyages as canoe plants during the Austronesian expansion, starting from around 5,000 BP. They introduced it to the Pacific Islands in prehistory, long before any contact with other civilizations.

The English origin of the word "ginger" is from the mid-14th century, from Old English gingifer, from Sanskrit srngaveram. The Sanskrit word is thought to come from an ancient Dravidian word that also produced the Malayalam name inchi-ver (from inchi "root"), an alternative explanation is that the Sanskrit word comes from srngam "horn" and vera- "body" (describing the shape of its root), but that may be folk etymology.