Low temperature, drought and salinity are major abiotic stresses that influence survival, productivity of cotton. bZIP transcription factor genes play significant roles in the response to abiotic stresses. In this study, twenty-four bZIP genes were identified in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) by bioinformatic approach named as GhbZIP1-GhbZIP24. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolated cotton bZIPs genes can be classified into 8 groups: A, B, C, D, E, G, I, S. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR were employed to reveal the expression profiling of 24 GhbZIPs under different abiotic stresses (200 mmol.L-1 NaCl, drought, 4℃) treatments. The results showed that the expression of 19 GhbZIP genes and 11 GhbZIP genes were up- and down-regulated by salinity and drought stresses, and that of 15 GhbZIP genes were up- and down-regulated by cold treatments, respectively. Moreover, four genes including GhbZIP4, GhbZIP7, GhbZIP21 and GhbZIP23 were response to all above treatments. The results suggested that GhbZIPs may play important roles in upland cotton plant abiotic stress adaption. Taken together, our data provided valuable information for further exploring the roles of the cotton bZIPs genes in response to stress and will eventually lead to the development of genetically manipulated cotton varieties with improved stress tolerance.