[Objective] This paper aimed to investigate the land use change and its driving forces in Zhangbei County, Hebei Province to provide references for the decision-making in land use management and sustainable use of land resources in this region.[Methods] Based on the TM remote sensing images in 1989, 1995, 2000, and 2010, using the technology and method of remote sensing, geographic information system and multivariate statistical analysis, this paper analyzed the spatial and temporal variations of land use in Zhangbei County. Factors driving land-use change were investigated.[Results] The main land-use types in Zhangbei County were arable land, forest land and grass land. During the period of 1989-2010, arable land and grass land decreased and forestland and construction land increased, especially in the period from 2000 to 2010. As to the land use types, arable land and grassland mainly changed into forestland and construction land. As to the spatial variation, forest land increased significantly in the eastern edge of Zhangbei Bashang Plateau, and the construction land expanded dramatically in the central plain of the county.[Conclusion] Major land-use change has occurred in Zhangbei County in the past 20 years owing to the influence of natural and social-ecnomic factors.