The maps of the human immunoglobulin heavy-chain and kappa light-chain loci have recently been completed. We have now completed a map of the human lambda locus (IGL) located on chromosome 22q11.2. We mapped 52 V lambda genes from 10 V lambda families and 7 J lambda and C lambda genes on a 1140 kb contig constructed from eight YACs and 129 cosmid clones. The V lambda genes are arranged within 800 kb. Genes of the different V lambda families are organized in three clusters, V lambda II and III families (cluster A); V lambda I, V, VII and IX families (cluster B); V lambda IV, VI, VIII and X families (cluster C), in contrast to the dispersed organization of the different VH and V kappa families within the human VH and V kappa loci. We note that the most frequently used V lambda families (V lambda II and III) are proximal to the J lambda and C lambda genes. The VpreB gene, encoding part of the surrogate light chain, the GGT2 gene and the BCRL4 pseudogene were also mapped within the lambda locus.