Cytological analysis performed on metaphase chromosome spreads of two oil palm species, E. guineensis (tenera) and E. oleifera, showed that both species have 2n=32 chromosomes. Paired t-tests showed no significant difference between paired homologues of E. oleifera whereas for E. guineensis, pair 7 showed a significant difference between the homolouges. For both species, based on chromosome length, pair 1 was assigned to Group 1, pairs 2-9 to group II and pairs 10-16 to group III. For E. guineensis and E. oleifera, Group 1 consists of the longest chromosome (10.98% and 10.69% of total haploid chromosome length respectively), Group II of medium length chromosomes (5.86%-8.79% and 6.05%-8.49% of total haploid chromosome length respectively) and Group III of medium short chromosomes (3.22%-5.47% and 3.01%-5.69% of total haploid chromosome length respectively). Paired t-tests performed for homologue chromosome pairs of E. oleifera and E. guineensis showed no significant difference in chromosome length between them. This is expected due to the fact that the two species can be crossed