The application of Raman spectroscopy to the characterization of carbon-based materials is reviewed. Carbon can exhibit various structural arrangements in the solid state, such as the well-known graphite and diamond, as well as the hrecently discovered allotropic forms based on fullerene, nanotube and graphene.The characteristic Raman spectra are presented for these different forms of carbons. We also address recent advances in Raman spectroscopy and their applications to carbon-based materials. These include resonant Raman scattering of single wall carbon nanotube, selective characterization of sp³-bonded C atoms in diamond-like amorphous carbon, Raman imaging of diamond isynthetic diamond film and nano-Raman spectroscopy of single wall carbon nanotube.