Superdeformed nuclei

This paper reviews the most recent advances in the understanding of the physics of superdeformed nuclei from the point of view of the experimentalists. It covers among other subjects the following topics: (1) the discovery of a new region of superdeformed nuclei near A=190, (2) the surprising result of the occurrence of bands with identical transition energies in neighboring superdeformed nuclei near A=150 and A=190, (3) the importance of octupole degrees of freedom at large deformation and (4) the properties associated with the feeding and the decay of superdeformed bands. The text presented hereafter will appear as a contribution to the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Volume 41. 88 refs., 11 figs