A sliding bearing where lubricating oil contained in grooves extending in the direction crossing the circumferential direction is sufficiently supplied to the entire area of the sliding surfaces of crests adjacent to the grooves. As a result, the bearing has an excellent lubrication effect with metal contact suppressed even under high surface pressure, is less likely to wear, and exhibits a smooth load bearing function. The grooves (12) in the inner peripheral surface (10) of the bearing (1) are formed under the following conditions: the inclination angle of the grooves relative to the direction normal to the circumferential direction is in the range from 10 to 60 DEG, the width (B) in the circumferential direction of each groove is in the range from 0.5 to 5 mm, the width (A) in the circumferential direction of the sliding surface (the surface of the crest (13) between grooves (12)) (14) of a shaft (20) is in the range from 1 to 7 mm, the ratio A/B between the width (A) of the sliding surface (14) and the width (B) of each groove is in the range from 0.5 to 5.0, the area ratio of the grooves in the inner peripheral surface (10) is in the range of 10 to 60%, and the depth d of each groove is in the range from 0.1 to 3 mm.