Split pea soup, which can also be simply called pea soup, is an old dish that dates back over two thousand years, to Greece in 400 BC - or even earlier. The pea had definitely been cultivated between 500-400 BC by both the Greeks and Romans, and vendors on the streets of Athens sold hot pea soup.
Split peas are the seeds of the pea plant which have been dried, peeled and split. Pea soup can also be made from fresh peas as well. Split peas, however, store well, and split pea soup is an effective way of using them. In Britain, pease porridge - pease was the old world for pea - was a staple food for many years.
Garden pea soup, made with fresh peas, does not tend to be as thick as split pea soup is. This can vary, though, and does depend on how the soup is prepared. The colour of the soup can also vary, from greyish-green to yellow. Many old pea soup dishes still exist, in one form or another, around the world.
The American type of split pea soup is, unlike most other soups of the same type, thinner than soup made with fresh peas - whereas in most cases it's the other way around. It also usually contains visible peas, as well as vegetables and pork. Pea soup in the U.S. generally refers to a smooth puree.
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