Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Volume

We review observational data about a sample of Local Volume objects containing about 1000 galaxies within 11 Mpc of the Milky Way. Dwarf galaxies with stellar masses M/M-? < 9 dexmake up 5/6 of the sample. Almost 40% of them have their distances measured with high precision using the Hubble Space Telescope. Currently, the LV is the most representative and least selection-affected sample of dwarf galaxies suitable for testing the standard CDM paradigm at the shortest cosmological scales. We discuss the HII properties of dwarf galaxies in different environments and the star formation rates in these systems as determined from FUV- and H-survey data. We also pay certain attention to the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation for low-mass dwarf galaxies. We also point out that LV dwarfs are important tracers for determining the total masses of nearby groups and the nearest Virgo cluster.