Homologous chromosomes are a pair of chromosomes that have the same genes in the same order, but they may have different alleles. One chromosome in the pair is inherited from the mother, and the other is inherited from the father. Homologous chromosomes are important in the processes of meiosis and mitosis, as they allow for the recombination and random segregation of genetic material from the mother and father into new cells. They are also used in repairing double-strand breaks of DNA. Homologous chromosomes have the following characteristics:

• They have the same structural features, such as the same size, same banding patterns, and same centromere positions.
• They have the same genes at the same loci positions.
• They pair up with each other inside a cell during fertilization.

Homologous chromosomes are different from sister chromatids, which are two identical chromosomes that result from DNA replication and are held together by a centromere.