A cylinder identifying apparatus comprising a crank angle sensor 20 detecting a crank angle of a combustion engine 14 having a plurality of cylinders, a cylinder identifying means 31 identifying a cylinder to be controlled by an output signal from the crank angle sensor 20, a cranking judging means 34 detecting a cranking state of the combustion engine 14, and an erroneous cylinder identification preventing means 32 detecting starting of cranking of the combustion engine 14 by an output from the cranking judging means, and circumventing the cylinder identification by the cylinder identifying means 31 until a predetermined time passes after starting the cranking, whereby the cylinder to be controlled is securely identified at time of cranking, and erroneous detection, erroneous control, and detection delay are prevented.