A lighting apparatus including a light guiding plate, and a light source including a plurality of light-emitting elements which emit light at a plurality of brightness levels. The light emitting elements is provided opposite to a side edge of the light guiding plate and arranged along the side edge of the light guiding plate. The light-emitting elements are divided into a plurality of sets according to the brightness levels, and light-emitting elements in each of the sets are connected in series.