INDIVIDUALS ENGAGED IN NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM POSSESS COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL ORIGIN, POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, EDUCATION, AGE, AND FAMILY BACKGROUND. TO SUPPORT THIS CONTENTION, TERRORIST LEADERS FROM PALESTINIAN, JAPANESE, GERMAN, IRISH, ITALIAN, TURKISH, SPANISH, IRANIAN, ARGENTINE, BRAZILIAN, AND URUGUAYAN GROUPS ARE EXAMINED. THE URBAN TERRORIST IS GENERALLY BETWEEN 22 AND 25 YEARS OF AGE. THE JAPANESE, PALESTINIAN, AND WEST GERMAN GROUPS WERE AN EXCEPTION; THEY TENDED TO BE OLDER. AMONG THE GROUPS STUDIED, TERRORISM WAS FOUND TO BE PREDOMINANTLY MALE-ORIENTED. THE EXCEPTIONS TO THIS GENERALIZATION ARE LISTED. WHERE WOMEN DID PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE TERRORIST CADRE, MOST WOMEN FUNCTIONED IN A SUPPORTIVE ROLE. TERRORISTS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS UNMARRIED, DUE TO REQUIREMENTS FOR MOBILITY, FLEXIBILITY, INITIATIVE, SECURITY, AND TOTAL DEDICATION TO A REVOLUTIONARY CAUSE. MOST URBAN TERRORISTS ARE NATIVES OR LONG-TIME RESIDENTS OF METROPOLITAN AREAS WHERE THEY FREQUENTLY OPERATE. THESE TERRORISTS ARE OFTEN PRODUCTS OF MIDDLE-CLASS AND UPPER-CLASS ENVIRONMENTS, ARE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, OR HAVE HAD SOME UNIVERSITY TRAINING. THE UNIVERSITY OFTEN SERVES AS THE PRIMARY INTELLECTUAL RECRUITING GROUND FOR THE TERRORIST CADRE. A PRISON MAY SERVE AS A SECONDARY RECRUITMENT AREA. THE GENERAL IDEOLOGY OF THE URBAN TERRORIST TENDS TO INCORPORATE ANARCHISTIC OR MARXIST-LENINIST PHILOSOPHIES. THE VIEWS OF MAO, TROTSKY, MARCUSE, FANON, AND MARIGHELA ARE USUALLY SYNTHESIZED INTO A BROAD PHILOSOPHY. THE PROFILE OF THE TERRORIST MAY CHANGE IN TWO WAYS IN THE FUTURE: THERE SEEMS TO BE A TREND TOWARD RECRUITMENT OF YOUNGER AND YOUNGER LEADERS AND AN INCREASING NUMBER ARE BEING RECRUITED FROM VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS WHERE THE SKILLS THEY LEARNED MAY BE USED TO FURTHER THEIR CAUSE. NOTES ARE PROVIDED. (JSP) MAY BE USED TO FURTHER THEIR CAUSE. NOTES ARE PROVIDED (JSP)