Three sensitive, selective, accurate spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric methods have been developed for the determination of ropinirole hydrochloride in tablets. The first method was based on measuring the absorbance of drug solution in methanol at 250 nm. The Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range 2.5-24 microg ml(-1). The second method was based on the charge transfer reaction of drug, as n-electron donor with 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), as pi-acceptor in acetonitrile to give radical anions that are measured at 842 nm. The Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range 0.6-8 microg ml(-1). The third method was based on derivatization reaction with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD-Cl) in borate buffer of pH 8.5 followed by measuring the fluorescence intensity at 525 nm with excitation at 464 nm in chloroform. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range 0.01-1.3 microg ml(-1). The derivatization reaction product of drug with NBD-Cl was characterized by IR, 1H NMR and mass spectroscopy. The developed methods were validated. The following analytical parameters were investigated: the molar absorptivity (epsilon), limit of detection (LOD, microg ml(-1)) and limit of quantitation (LOQ, microg ml(-1)), precision, accuracy, recovery, and Sandell's sensitivity. Selectivity was validated by subjecting stock solution of ropinirole to acidic, basic, oxidative, and thermal degradation. No interference was observed from common excipients present in formulations. The proposed methods were successfully applied for determination of drug in tablets. The results of these proposed methods were compared with each other statistically.