As a global phenomenon, large igneous provinces (LIPs) are continuums of voluminous magnesium_rich and iron_rich effusive rocks, and include continental flood basalts and associated intrusive rocks, volcanic passive margins, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, seamount groups and ocean basin flood basalts. The representatives of the three major categories are Ontong Java and Kerguelen_Broken Ridge oceanic plateaus, North Atlantic volcanic passive margins, and Deccan and Columbia River continental flood basalts. Various LIPs have important temporal, spatial and compositional similarities, characterized exclusively by huge melt volume, high eruption rates and preponderant tholeiite. LIPs represent the largest known volcanic episode on the earth and record the outward significant transfer of material and energy from the Earth's interior. As they cannot be easily explained by plate tectonics, the mantle plume hypothesis is widely applied to interpret the origin of many large igneous provinces. In the thermal plume model, LIPs and many associated hotspot tracks have been ascribed to the melting of a large plume head and a narrow tail respectively. LIPs are crustal manifestations of dynamic processes in the Earth's mantle, and hence LIP parameters may be employed as boundary conditions to invert such processes.