  We review the physical properties of nearby, relatively luminous galaxies,
using results from newly available massive data sets together with more
detailed observations. First, we present the global distribution of properties,
including the optical and ultraviolet luminosity, stellar mass, and atomic gas
mass functions. Second, we describe the shift of the galaxy population from
"late" galaxy types in underdense regions to "early" galaxy types in overdense
regions. We emphasize that the scaling relations followed by each galaxy type
change very little with environment, with the exception of some minor but
detectable effects. The shift in the population is apparent even at the
densities of small groups and therefore cannot be exclusively due to physical
processes operating in rich clusters. Third, we divide galaxies into four crude
types -- spiral, lenticular, elliptical, and merging systems -- and describe
some of their more detailed properties. We attempt to put these detailed
properties into the global context provided by large surveys.
