The standard Einstein-Maxwell equations in 2+1 spacetime dimensions, with a negative cosmological constant, admit a black hole solution. The 2+1 black hole -characterized by mass, angular momentum and charge, defined by flux integrals at infinity-is quite similar to its 3+1 counterpart. Anti-de Sitter space appears as a negative energy state separated by a mass gap from the continuous black hole spectrum. Evaluation of the partition function yields that the entropy is equal to twice the perimeter length of the horizon.

The geometry of the spinning black holes of standard Einstein theory in 2+1 dimensions, with a negative cosmological constant and without couplings to matter, is analyzed in detail. It is shown that the black hole arises from identifications of points of anti-de Sitter space by a discrete subgroup of SO(2, 2). The generic black hole is a smooth manifold in the metric sense.The surface r = 0 is not a curvature singularity but, rather, a singularity in the causal structure. Continuing past it would introduce closed timelike lines.However, simple examples show the regularity of the metric at r = 0 to be unstable: couplings to matter bring in a curvature singularity there. Kruskal coordinates and Penrose diagrams are exhibited. Special attention is given to the limiting cases of (i) the spinless hole of zero mass, which differs from antide Sitter space and plays the role of the vacuum, and (ii) the spinning hole of maximal angular momentum . A thorough classification of the elements of the Lie algebra of SO(2, 2) is given in an Appendix.