Objective To study the clinical classification and etiologies of uveitis based on 1214 uveitis patients reffered to Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center. Methods A retrospective analysis was made on the patients with uveitis, coming from all over China between January 1996 and December 2001. All kinds of uveitis were classified according to the anatomical criteria and etiological criteria. The relevant data of these patients, such as the age at uveitis onset and sex were also analyzed. Results The total number of the patients is 1214 (male 698, female 516), with the average age at disease onset being 34.43. Anterior uveitis, the most common type, was seen in 546 cases, accounting for 44.98% of all the patients, followed in descending order by panuveitis (530 cases, 43.66%), intermediate uveitis(78 cases, 6.43%) and posterior uveitis(60 cases, 4.94%). Etiological factors and clinical entities were identified in 703 patients, accounting for 57.91% of all the patients, and the other 511 patients were idiopathic ones. The most common types of anterior uveitis were idiopathic uveitis(316 cases, 57.88%), followed by Fuchs syndrome(85 cases) and ankylosing spondylitis(45 cases). BehCcedil;et disease(218 cases, 41.13%) and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome(196 cases, 36.98%) were the most common entities in panuveitis. Neither etiological factors nor clinical entities could be identified in the patients with intermediate uveitis and those with posterior uveitis. Conclusions Uveitis occurs mostly in young and middle-aged adults. In general, a predilection was seen in the male as compared with the female in the development of uveitis. Idiopathic anterior uveitis, BehCcedil;et disease and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome are the most common entities of uveitis seen in China. Classification based on etiological and anatomical factors may provide a reasonable system for the study of uveitis. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2002, 18: 253-255)