Oncogenesis of tumours related to multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is associated with somatic deletions involving the MEN1 locus at chromosomal region 11q13, suggesting inactivation of a tumour-suppressor gene in this region. Here we describe the localization of the MEN1 gene to a 900-kb region, based on linkage analysis in affected families and deletion mapping of MEN1-associated tumours. In addition, a set of microsatellite markers mapped to the 11q11-13 region were used for linkage analysis in a large Tasmanian MEN1 pedigree, demonstrating the usefulness of these markers for presymptomatic testing in affected families.