Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years are both the most threatened globally,rnaccounting for half of all new cases of HIV and the greatest hope for turning the tide againstrnAIDS. Significant proportion of the population particularly the youth are at high risk of HIVrninfection despite high level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Although various surveys havernbeen made to study the sexual behavior of youth in Ethiopia, few studies assess youth riskrnperception to HIV/AIDS. This cross-sectional survey was conducted from December 2004 tornJanuary 2005 to assess HIV risk perception and condom use among youth in Debre BirhanrnTown of Amhara Region.rnA total of 663 youths were interviewed and four focus group discussions were conducted. Inrnthis study 32.7% of the respondents were sexually active. The mean age at first sexualrnintercourse was 18.1+ sd 2.1 years. Sixty-two (28.6%) of the sexually active respondentsrnreported that they have more than one sexual partner. Among the sexually active respondentsrn38.7% had ever used condom and only 44.9% use condom consistently. Condom use wasrnassociated with marital status (AOR=0.08, 95% CI=0.01, 0.36), education (AOR=6.92, 95%rnCI=1.49, 32.00) and reported number of sexual partners (AOR=4.16, 95% CI=1.34, 12.87).rnWith the above risk sexual behavior, participantsâ€™ attitude towards perceiving themselves atrnrisk of HIV infection was only 4.5%. Knowledge of HIV transmission, (AOR =3.25, 95%rnCI=1.61, 6.55), number of reported sexual partners, (AOR=2.09, 95% CI=1.01, 4.33),rncondom use (AOR=0.30, 95% CI=0.14, 0.67), and khat (AOR=2.73, 95% CI=1.03, 7.22)rnwere significantly associated with self-risk perception to HIV.rnFrom this study, it was concluded that despite the high knowledge the youths have onrnHIV/AIDS, they still engage in high- risk sexual behavior and perception of risk acquisition isrnvery low. Thus, peer-based interventions to delay sex and negotiate condom use, youthfriendlyrnsexual and reproductive health services including VCT and developing life skills tornenable a change of attitude of the youth to avoid HIV/AIDS are recommended.rnKey words: Youth, Risk perception, Condom use, Debre Birhan District