Definite progress in understanding the etiology of cervical cancer has been achieved, and some types of human papillomavirus have been established as the central cause of cervical cancer worldwide. This study investigates the human papillomavirus infection and its correlation with apoptosis and clinicopathologic characteristics in squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix. Human papillomavirus typing was done by type-specific primers for high-risk human papillomavirus using standard polymerase chain reaction method. Programmed cell death (apoptosis) was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling assay. Human papillomavirus infection in tissue biopsy of cervical carcinoma was detected in 131 of 135 (97%) cases. Among the positive cases of human papillomavirus, 123 (94%) cases were human papillomavirus type 16, and five (4%) cases were human papillomavirus type 18. Out of 135 cervical carcinoma cases, 81 (60%) cases showed presence of apoptosis. The phenomenon of apoptosis was seen slightly higher in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma (40% in squamous cell carcinoma and 33% in adenocarcinoma). The human papillomavirus infection in cervical cancer might not play any role in the occurrence of apoptosis.