This invention refers to a fingerprint verification method and apparatus based on global ridgeline. Firstly, the invention search base point pair between the stored fingerprint template and the fingerprint template to be matched. The said base point pair is the positioning reference for position calibration between the stored fingerprint template and the fingerprint template to be matched. Secondly, generates fingerprint template after minutiae extraction with additional use of thinned global fingerprint ridgeline information. Then, observe similarity of minutiae topological structure or surrounding ridgeline distribution to determine base point pairs. Finally, align two fingerprints through base point pair alignment. Calculate matching ratio of ridgelines to determine whether two fingerprints match. Beneficial results of present invention: By using global ridgeline information, efficiency of searching & interference resistance capacity is greatly enhanced. Present invention overcomes disadvantage of fingerprint verification method based on minutiae, i.e. difficulty to verify fingerprints with too few minutiae points.