Federal de Pernambuco -50739-907 -Recife -PE Recebido em 21/9/98; aceito em 18/2/99 SIMULTANEOUS MULTICOMPONENT ANALYSIS BY UV-VIS SPECTROPHOTOMETRY. This review presents the evolution of simultaneous multicomponent analysis by absorption spectrophotometry in the ultraviolet and visual regions in terms of some qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques, otimization methods, as well as applications and modern trends.