Localization is one of the fundamental problems in wireless sensor networks (WSNs),since locations of the sensor nodes are critical to both network operations and most application level tasks.Although the GPS based localization schemes can be used to determine node locations within a few meters,the cost of GPS devices and non-availability of GPS signals in confined environments prevent their use in large scale sensor networks.There exists an extensive body of research that aims at obtaining locations as well as spatial relations of nodes in WSNs without requiring specialized hardware and/or employing only a limited number of anchors that are aware of their own locations.In this paper,we present a comprehensive survey on sensor localization in WSNs covering motivations,problem formulations,solution approaches and performance summary.Future research issues will also be discussed. Localization is one of the fundamental problems in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), since locations of the sensor nodes are critical to both network operations and most application level tasks. Although GPS based localization schemes can be used to determine node locations within a few meters , the cost of GPS devices and non-availability of GPS signals in confined environments prevent their use in large scale sensor networks. There exists an extensive body of research that aims at demanding locations as well as spatial relations of nodes in WSNs without requiring specialized hardware and / or employing only a limited number of anchors that are aware of their own locations. this paper, we present a comprehensive survey on sensor localization in WSNs covering motivations, problem formulations, solution approaches and performance summary. Future research issues will also be discussed.