This document provides an overview of taxonomy and biological classification. It discusses how Carolus Linnaeus established the scientific system of naming and ranking organisms in hierarchical groups. The key levels are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. It then describes the major taxonomic groups across the three domains of life - Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya. Within each kingdom, it outlines the characteristic phyla, classes, orders and other subgroups. The document concludes with a brief discussion of proposed alternatives to Linnaeus' classification system, such as the PhyloCode.