List of minor-planet groups

A minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that share broadly similar orbits.

The region with the densest concentration (lying between the Kirkwood gaps at 2.06 and 3.27 AU, with eccentricities below about 0.3, and inclinations smaller than 30°) is called the asteroid belt.

It can be further subdivided by the Kirkwood Gaps into the: There are a number of more or less distinct asteroid groups outside the asteroid belt, distinguished either by mean distance from the Sun, or particular combinations of several orbital elements: There is a forbidden zone between the Hildas and the Trojans (roughly 4.05 AU to 4.94 AU).

Most of the minor planets beyond the orbit of Jupiter are believed to be composed of ices and other volatiles.

Many are similar to comets, differing only in that the perihelia of their orbits are too distant from the Sun to produce a significant tail.