α- Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles have wide-ranging applications such as in catalysis, sensoring, painting, etc. This is the reason to study their controlled synthesis. Here we have investigated the synthesis of uniform α- Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles using amino acids as morphology control agents. The products were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). It was found that the type and the amount of amino acids as well as the reaction temperatures have significant influence on the shape and size of the obtained α- Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles. The use of acidic amino acids (always contain C = O in the side chain) typically leads to the formation of α- Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles with spindle shape. However, rhombohedrally shaped α- Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles were formed in presence of basic amino acids (always contain - NH 2 in the side chain). Increasing the amount of amino acid generally results in α- Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles with decreasing particle sizes.