A new high-resolution genetic linkage map for human chromosome 7p has been constructed. The map is composed of 47 loci (54 polymorphic systems), 19 of which are uniquely placed with odds of at least 1000:1. Four genes are represented, including glucokinase (GCK, ATP:D-hexose-6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.2) which was mapped via a (CA)n dinucleotide repeat polymorphism. The sex-average map measures 94.4 cM and the male and female maps measure 73.2 and 116.1 cM, respectively. We believe that the genetic map extends nearly the full length of the short arm of chromosome 7 since a centromere marker has been incorporated, and the most distal marker, D7S21, has been cytogenetically localized by in situ hybridization to 7p22-pter. The average marker spacing is 2 cM, and the largest interval between uniquely placed markers is 13 cM (sex-average map). Overall, female recombination was observed to be about 1.5 times that of males, and a statistically significant sex-specific recombination frequency was found for a single interval. The map is based on genotypic data gathered from 40 CEPH reference pedigrees and was constructed using the CRI-MAP program package. The map presented here represents a combined and substantially expanded dataset compared to previously published chromosome 7 maps, and it will serve as a "baseline" genetic map that should prove useful for future efforts to develop a 1-cM map and for construction of a contiguous clone-based physical map for this chromosome.