The mean monthly noon critical frequencies of theE andF1 layers of the ionosphere at a number of stations in different latitudes and their variation with sunspot number have been studied in this paper. It is found that while theE layer approximates to a chapman region, theF1 layer is markedly affected by other agenices, somewhat similar toF2. In high sunspot years,foF1 shows two maxima at middle latitudes with a minimum at the equator.