Three hundred and fifty sunflower genotypes were evaluated at the seedling stage for salt tolerance under control (non-saline) and a salinity level of ECe 12 dSm-1. Eighty-three of them were found sensitive to salinity at emegence and the remaining two hundred and sixty-seven which emerged were further evaluated for seedling growth parameters. Emergence percentage, shoot length, shoot fresh weiglt and root length exhibited greater variation. The genotgpic components of variance for these seedling traits were also greater in magnitude. The estimates of broad sense heritability for seedling parameters ranged from 78.9 to 96.5 percent. Genotypes were classified from highly tolerant to highly sensitive to salinity on the basis of their performance under salinity as compared with control. It is suggested that emergence percentage, emergence index, shoot length, and shoot fresh weight can be used as selection criteria for salt tolerance in sunflower at seedling stage.