An image retrieving system is provided which is suitable for acquiring a retrieving result or a classifying result according to the desire of a user. The system extracts a noticing area from a retrieving key image and each retrieving object image, and a characteristic vector V of these images is generated on the basis of the extracted noticing area. An image similar to the retrieving key image is retrieved from a retrieving object image registration database on the basis of the generated characteristic vector V.