The location problem is a typical combinatorial optimization problem in the work of engineering design,line routing,project location,etc.According to the principle of swarm intelligence,a new optimization algorithm based on the idea of glowworms the glowworm swarm algorithm was presented to solve the location problem.To avoid getting stuck into local optima,a neighborhood search strategy was introduced into the artificial glowworm swarm optimization algorithm.Simulated tests of the location problem and comparisons with other algorithms show that the algorithm is feasible and effective and has strong global optimization ability.