What Are the Parts of the Human Leg?
Parts of the human leg are bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels. The bones of the leg, from top to bottom, are the femur, a long bone with a ball-shaped head that fits into the socket of the hip bone. The lower end of the femur lies above the patella, which lies behind the knee.
Beneath the patella is the tibia, another long bone. The fibula, a long, slender bone on the outside of the tibia, is connected at the top to the tibia and at the bottom to the ankle at the lateral malleolus.
The bones in the feet are divided into the tarsal bones in the back, the metatarsal bones in the middle and the phalanges up front. Some of the muscles that support the leg are the rectus femoris and the adductor and vastus muscles in the thigh area. Muscles in the lower leg include the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles and the peroneus longus and brevis muscles.
Nerves that serve the legs include the saphenous nerves, the sciatic nerve, the tibial nerves and the peroneal nerves. Parts of the circulatory system that serve the leg are the tibial, saphenous, femoral and iliac veins and the popliteal, fibular, tibial and iliac arteries.
