Study of the genetics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) began about four decades ago with the discovery of HLA-DRB1. Since the beginning of this century, a number of non-HLA risk loci have been identified through genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We now know that over 100 loci are associated with RA risk. Because genetic information implies a clear causal relationship to the disease, research into the pathogenesis of RA should be promoted. However, only 20% of GWAS loci contain coding variants, with the remaining variants occurring in non-coding regions, and therefore, the majority of causal genes and causal variants remain to be identified. The use of epigenetic studies, high-resolution mapping of open chromatin, chromosomal conformation technologies and other approaches could identify many of the missing links between genetic risk variants and causal genetic components, thus expanding our understanding of RA genetics.