The aim of this study was to determine the association of left ventricular (LV) geometry with sex, age, arterial hypertension and obesity in Tallinn. In a framework of a population study for cardiovascular risk factors, echocardiography was carried out in 325 men and 398 women (69.3% of all 1043 participants aged 35-59) in 1999-2001. Left ventricular hypertrophy was defined if left ventricular mass (LVM), LVM/height and LVM/body surface area were 294 g, 163 g/m and 150 g/m2 in men, and 198 g, 121 g/m and 120 g/m2 in women, respectively. LV geometry was analysed according to four types generally recognized (with regard to relative wall thickness > 0.45). The prevalence of concentric hypertrophy was similar in men and women: 7.7% and 9.1%. The prevalence of eccentric hypertrophy was significantly higher in women than in men (33.3% vs 4.9%). Concentric remodelling was also found in women more often than in men (9.5 vs 5.5%; p < 0.05). Regardless of sex and age, concentric hypertrophy was never found in participants with blood pressure < 140/90. In hypertensives, there was a tendency for age-related increase of concentric hypertrophy prevalence: the latter was higher in women than in men: 39.1% vs 25.5%; p < 0.05. In examinees with BMI < 30, this type of LV geometry was seldom found: in 3.1% of men and 5.0% of women; p < 0.05. In obese persons, it increased with age, reaching 26.5% in men and 21.2% in women (p < 0.05). The prevalence of eccentric hypertrophy in men increased with age, and with hypertension and obesity. The prevalence of concentric remodelling in men was not related to BMI; it was significantly more often found in older age groups and in hypertensives. In women, the prevalence of eccentric hypertrophy and concentric remodelling was not related to age, hypertension or obesity.