We have investigated the characteristics of human hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) with the CD34(+)CD45(low)SSC(low) phenotype from full-term placental tissue (FTPT) as compared to cord blood (CB) and fetal liver (FL) cells. We demonstrated the presence of cell subpopulations at various stages of the differentiation with such immunophenotypes as CD34(+/low)CD45(low/-), CD34(++)CD45(low/-), CD34(+++)CD45(low/-), CD34(+/low)CD45(hi), and CD34(++)CD45(hi) in both first trimester placental tissue (FiTPT) and FTPT which implies their higher phenotypic heterogeneity compared to CB. HPCs of the FTPT origin expressed the CD90 antigen at a higher level compared to its expression by the CB HPCs and the CD133 antigen expression being at the same level in both cases. The HPCs compartment of FTPT versus CB contained higher number of myeloid and erythroid committed cells but lower number of myeloid and lymphoid ones compared to FL HPCs. HPCs of the FTPT and CB origin possess similar potentials for the multilineage differentiation in vitro and similar ratios of myeloid and erythroid progenitors among the committed cells. This observation suggests that the active hematopoiesis occurs in the FTPT. We obtained viable HPCs from cryopreserved placental tissue fragments allowing us to develop procedures for banking and testing of placenta-derived HPCs for clinical use.