To provide a charging roll advantageously improved in contact property (grounding property) with an image carrier by ensuring, when assembling the charging roll to contact with the outer circumferential surface of the image carrier within an electrophotographic machine, a sufficient nip width between the charging roll and the image carrier even at the axial center thereof.

The charging roller comprises a conductive base layer 14 provided around a shaft body 12, and a resistance adjustment layer 16 provided on the outer circumferential surface of the conductive base layer 14. The conductive base layer 14 and the resistance adjustment layer 16 are formed, respectively, to have the largest thickness at the axial center and be gradually thinned toward both the ends, and to have the smallest thickness at the axial center and be gradually thickened toward both the ends, while having a center-swollen shape in which the sum of thicknesses of the conductive layer 14 and the resistance adjustment layer 16 is continuously increased from both the axial ends to the center.