The ALICE experiment, under construction at the Large Hadron Collider, has been designed to study the behavior of nuclear matter under extreme conditions of energy density and temperature, via a simultaneous measurement of many observables. The ALICE setup comprises a multipurpose complex of tracking and particle-identification devices installed in a large solenoid magnet and a muon detection arm in the forward rapidity region. Characteristics and construction status of the main ALICE sub-detectors will be discussed.

PACS numbers: 25.75.Nq, 25.75.--q, 29.40.--n