Chilo iridescent virus (CIV) is the type species for genus Iridovirus, and belongs to the family Iridoviridae. Since the discovery of CIV in 1966, many attempts were made to elucidate the viral genome structure. The virions contain a single linear ds DNA molecule that is circularly permuted and terminally redundant. The genome of CIV has been entirely sequenced. The CIV virion consists of an unusual three-layer structure containing an outer proteinaceous capsid, an intermediate lipid membrane, and a core DNA-protein complex containing the genome. CIV has a broad host spectrum and has, in general, a limited mortality effect on its hosts. Up to now there have been several studies about CIV describing its structure, ecology, and molecular biology. In this review study we present all these studies together to describe the CIV.