Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was performed on five local cultivars of pomegranate (Punica granatum), which vary in fruit splitting resistance, grown in the farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University. The cultivars investigated were Manfalouty, Nab-Elgamal, Wardy, Araby and Higazy. Five selected primers, namely OPC-7, OPA-3, OPE-7, OPI-2and OPO-12, produced 52 DNA fragments in total, and among which 29 fragments (55.76 %) were reproducible polymorphic amplified products while, 23 DNA fragments (44.23 %) were conserved among the five cultivars. The degree of polymorphism detected made possible the identification of each cultivar by combining the RAPD banding patterns of the five primers. The amplification products obtained with the five primers were used to identify cultivar- specific markers and to estimate the genetic relationships among pomegranate genotypes. Nineteen cultivar- specific markers were generated. The largest number of cultivar- specific markers was generated for OPC-7 primer (6 markers). Five specific genetic markers of the fruit splitting resistant cultivars (Araby and Higazy) were identified. A dendrogram was performed using the UPGMA cluster analysis to indicate the genetic relationships among the cultivars. The similarity values among genotypes ranged between 0.675 and 0.889 with an average of 0.782. The results of this study clearly indicate the utility of RAPD markers for the detection of genetic variation in pomegranate and suggest that RAPD markers have good potential for identifying pomegranate cultivars.