A lithography projection objective for focusing and imaging a pattern of a reticle onto a wafer consisting of, from the reticle and along an optical axis: a first lens group having a positive refractive power; a second lens group having a positive refractive power; a third lens group having a positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power, wherein the following formulae are satisfied: 1.8 < f G ⁢ 32 / f G ⁢ 31 < 5.4 0.57 < f G ⁢ 33 / f G ⁢ 34 < 0.97 0.19 < f G ⁢ 33 / f G ⁢ 32 < 0.5 where f G31 is a focal length of the first lens group, f G32 is a focal length of the second lens group, f G33 is a focal length of the third lens group, and f G34 is a focal length of the fourth lens group, wherein: the first lens group consists of four lenses (31, 32, 33, 34); the second lens group consists of six lenses (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40) which includes two pairs of lenses (35, 36; 39, 40) each consisting of a positive lens (35, 39) and a negative lens (36, 40) adjacent to the positive lens; the third lens group consists of four lenses (41, 42, 43, 44) and includes a sub-lens group (G33-1n) having a positive refractive power, the sub-lens group (G33-1n) including two adjacent lenses (41, 42) of the third lens group both of which have a positive refractive power; the fourth lens group consists of six lenses (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50) and includes a sub-lens group (G34-1n) having a positive refractive power, the sub-lens group (G34-1n) including at least three directly successively arranged lenses (46, 47, 48,49) of the fourth lens group all of which have a positive refractive power; and the following formulae are satisfied: 1.03 < f el_max / f G ⁢ 31 < 1.95 0.34 < f G ⁢ 33 - 1 ⁢ n / f G ⁢ 33 < 0.87 0.21 < f G ⁢ 34 - ln / f G ⁢ 34 < 0.47 where f el_max is a focal length of a lens of the first lens group which has a greatest refractive power in the first lens group, f G33-1n is a focal length of the sub-lens group (G33-1n) of the third lens group, and f G34-1n is a focal length of the sub-lens group (G34-1 n) of the fourth lens group. a first lens group having a positive refractive power; a second lens group having a positive refractive power; a third lens group having a positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power, wherein the following formulae are satisfied: 1.8 < f G ⁢ 32 / f G ⁢ 31 < 5.4 0.57 < f G ⁢ 33 / f G ⁢ 34 < 0.97 0.19 < f G ⁢ 33 / f G ⁢ 32 < 0.5 where f G31 is a focal length of the first lens group, f G32 is a focal length of the second lens group, f G33 is a focal length of the third lens group, and f G34 is a focal length of the fourth lens group, wherein: the first lens group consists of four lenses (31, 32, 33, 34); the second lens group consists of six lenses (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40) which includes two pairs of lenses (35, 36; 39, 40) each consisting of a positive lens (35, 39) and a negative lens (36, 40) adjacent to the positive lens; the third lens group consists of four lenses (41, 42, 43, 44) and includes a sub-lens group (G33-1n) having a positive refractive power, the sub-lens group (G33-1n) including two adjacent lenses (41, 42) of the third lens group both of which have a positive refractive power; the fourth lens group consists of six lenses (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50) and includes a sub-lens group (G34-1n) having a positive refractive power, the sub-lens group (G34-1n) including at least three directly successively arranged lenses (46, 47, 48,49) of the fourth lens group all of which have a positive refractive power; and the following formulae are satisfied: 1.03 < f el_max / f G ⁢ 31 < 1.95 0.34 < f G ⁢ 33 - 1 ⁢ n / f G ⁢ 33 < 0.87 0.21 < f G ⁢ 34 - ln / f G ⁢ 34 < 0.47 where f el_max is a focal length of a lens of the first lens group which has a greatest refractive power in the first lens group, f G33-1n is a focal length of the sub-lens group (G33-1n) of the third lens group, and f G34-1n is a focal length of the sub-lens group (G34-1 n) of the fourth lens group.