Soil pollution by heavy metals has recently become an important environmental issue in many parts of the world. No comprehensive studyhas yet been conducted todeterminethe total and availableconcentration ofheavy metals andtheir spatial distribution insurface soilsof the Isfahan Province. The objectives ofthisstudy was toinvestigate thespatialdistribution oftotalandavailableconcentrationof heavy metalsand their relationshipwithsoilcharacteristics, climateandparent materials. A total of 252 composite soil samples were taken from the depth of 0-20 cm based on a regular grid scheme across the whole province. After the preparation of soil samples, the total and available concentrations of heavy metals were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer following the digestion of samples with 5 N nitric acid and DTPAsolution, respectively. To investigate the influence of parent materials on the concentration of heavy metals in the soils studied, a total of 44 dominant parent rock sampleswere also taken and analyzed. Magnetic susceptibility of soil samples was also measured. Besides, some soil characteristics including electrical conductivity, soil texture, organic matter, pH, gypsum and calcium carbonate content in the samples was determined.Estimates of temperature and precipitation were obtained for the sampling points using the regression equation between the altitude and climatic variables in synoptic stations.The spatial distribution of heavy metals was studied using the best model fitted to omnidirectional variograms. Maps of all the variables were prepared using ordinary kriging interpolation method.The results showed that there was a high correlation between the concentration of heavy metals originating from parent materials and some soil characteristics such as organic matter, clay and soil texture. Mn, Co, and Cr and had a significantly positive correlation with ?lf and ?hf. Fe, Zn, and Ni had a significantly positive correlation with ?fd% indicating the presence of super paramagnetic particles with lithogenic origin in the region. Distribution of heavy metals show that Ni has the highest contamination level in soils based on the standard levels of contamination reported for Iranian soils (more than 50 % of the soils above the threshold level). Cr and Co with 17.5 and 4% of the soils higher than the standard levels, respectively, follow the Ni contamination level. No soil contamination with Zn, Mn, and Fe was found for most of the soil samples. The mean Cu concentration in the soil is equal to that of the world’s average level. Only the soils of a small area in the whole province are contaminated with Pb. In terms of the available concentration, Cu, Mn, Fe, and Zn, 67, 62, 30 and 56% of the samples, respectively, were categorized in the classes of low to moderate. Spatial distribution mapsof total and available concentrations indicated high concentrations of heavy elements in soils of western, northwestern, southern and southwestern areas of the province. Based on the analyses of parent rock samples, important factors affecting the concentration of all the elements in soils are geological structure and the presence of parent materials such as shale, andesite, diorite, and schist/mica schist. Theuse ofchemical fertilizers, mining,metallurgical and other industrial activities as well as the dust deposition originating from these sources seem to also influence the levels of heavy metals in certain areas.