Twenty-one strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum var. viceae spp (Vicia faba) from 21 sites ofrnNorth Gondar were isolated from a range of pH 5.8-7.5 to induce nodulation on â€œDegaga"rncultivar of faba bean. Isolates were authenticated as root nodule bacteria by their ability to formrnnodules on their host up on re-inoculation, except AUFR13. All of the morphological featuresrndisplayed by all isolates were characteristics of fast growing Rhizobium leguminosarum varrnviceae, except AUFR13. Almost all of the isolates grew between 150C and 350C and failed torngrow at 400C, except AUFR22 and AUFR28. All isolates failed to grow at 1% NaCl, exceptrnAUFR12 and AUFR28. AUFR18 was the only osmotolerant strain capable of growing at arnconcentration of 5%. The isolates also grew on a wide range of moderate acidity and alkalinityrnbut only 10% of the isolates grew at pH5.5. With the exception of gluconate, citrate, and tartarate,rnalmost all isolates grew on 14 out of the tested carbohydrates. The Intrinsic Antibiotic Resistancern(IAR) was found to be the best of all tested physiological characters to identify the heterogeneityrnof Rhizobium leguminosarum var. viceae, so that 95% of the tested isolate were resistrnerythromycin and chloromphenicol, and 14%, 24%, 38%, 38% and 43% of the isolates toleratedrnstreptomycin, ampicillin, rifampcin, kanamycin and naldixic acid at highest concentration,rnrespectively. The relative effectiveness expressed as percentage of shoot dry mass of inoculantsrnover TN control, showed that 24%, 57%, 4.7% and 9.5% of the isolates were found to be highlyrneffective, effective, lowly effective and ineffective, respectively. The highest scores of 88-100%rneffectiveness of symbiotic nitrogen fixation were displayed by AUFR14, AUFR15, AUFR24,rnAUFR28 and AUFR32. Selected strains on soil culture were found to accumulate 81-92% onrnHoleta soil and 90-103% on Ambagiorgis soil of their shoot dry mass compared to theirrnrespective N-fertilized controls. All isolates were also found to increase shoot dry weight by 0-rn43% higher than their respective sand cultures and response of the Holetta soil to inoculation byrnselected effective strains was much pronounced (47-67%) than Ambaghiorgis soil (8-25%)rncompared to the negative (N-) controls. The lower dry matter accumulation by Holeta soilrnindicates that the low pH and other soil-related factors severely affected survival, nodulation andrnnitrogen fixation of their indigenous rhizobia and the process can be rectified by inoculation ofrneffective rhizobia.rnKey words: Faba bean, Rhizobia, Phenotypic diversity, Symbiotic effectiveness.