Penetration of vortices into a chin superconducting film and the edge barri
er arising in a transverse magnetic field are considered. The vortex Gibbs
energy is calculated on the base of the Kogan's solution for the Pearl's vo
rtex situated neat the film edge. The penetration field and the magnetizati
on in the critical state are calculated. The influence of the edge barrier
on magnetization of high-T-c thin films is estimated. [S0163-1829(99)13901-
8].