To provide a heater having a heat emitting element of ceamic, which excels in the durability to current and is unlikely to generate unevenness in the temp. distribution.

A ceramic heater 1 is equipped with a ceramic base body 13 having a circular section and a heat emitting element 10 which is embedded in the base body 13 and makes resistance heat emission when current is fed through electrodes connected with the two ends. The heat emitting element 10 is equipped with a direction changing part 10a extending from one of its base ends, changing the heading at the foremost, and leading to the other end, and two straight portions 10b stretching in the same direction from the base ends of the direction changing part, wherein the section of each straight portion 10b assumes an ellipse inscribing with a virtual circular region 13a set in the section of the base 13. The ratio of the diameter X of the circular region 13a to the section diameter Y of the base should range between 0.3 and 0.7. On the elliptical section of the straight portion 10b, the ratio of the length of long axis P to the length Q of short axis should range between 1.2 and 2.5.