Introduction: Nowadays, tobacco smoking is the single most preventable cause of death all over the word. Now it kills annually more than five million people and this number will increase to over 8 million by 2030. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of smoking and risk factors for smoking in the adult population of the Łódź district. Material and Methods: We included into the study a representative group of the adult population (1037 people) living in this district. The sampling and all study procedures were based on the methods for Multi-Center Representative Nationwide Study - WOBASZ. A questionnaire was employed to determine the smoking status. Logistic regression models were applied to assess the factors related to the smoking habit. Results: In the study population, 40.8% of men and 19.5% of women were active smokers. The following factors were associated with the smoking status: lower educational level (OR = 3.1; 95% CI 1.4-6.8) and lower level of income (OR = 2.4; 95% CI 1.2-4.9) in men, and marital status - widow (OR = 3.3, 95% CI 1.4-7.5) in women. People living in small districts showed a higher risk for smoking than those living in larger urban areas (men, OR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.3-3.6; women, OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.5-5.2) Older persons smoke less frequently than younger ones (men, OR = 0.3; 95% CI 0.1-0.8; women, OR = 0.1; 95% CI 0.02-0.5). Conclusions: The lower levels of education and income, as well as living in small districts are the risk factors for cigarette smoking. Med. Pr. 2008;59(2):143-148