  Here we discuss the physical conditions in the emission line regions (ELR) of
active galactic nuclei (AGN), with the special emphasize on the unresolved
problems, e.g. the stratification of the Broad Line Region (BLR) or the failure
of the photoionization to explain the strong observed optical Fe II emission.
We use here different line fluxes in order to probe the properties of the ELR,
such as the hydrogen Balmer lines (Ha to He), the helium lines from two
subsequent ionization levels (He II 4686 and He I 5876) and the strongest Fe II
lines in the wavelength interval 4400-5400 \AA. We found that the hydrogen
Balmer and helium lines can be used for the estimates of the physical
parameters of the BLR, and we show that the Fe II emission is mostly emitted
from an intermediate line region (ILR), that is located further away from the
central continuum source than the BLR.
