Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is predicted to become the third most common cause of death and the fifth most common cause of disability in the world by 2020. Recently, variants in the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1A), cholinergic receptor, neuronal nicotinic, alpha polypeptide-5, and iron-responsive element-binding protein 2 gene (IREB2) genes were found to be associated with COPD. This study aims to identify whether the variations in these genes are related to COPD in the Hainan population of the People's Republic of China.