Abstract—In a recent issue of the journal Herald of the RAS (No. 1, 2021), the article “Achievements of Space Astrometry” discussed the development of astrometry from ancient times to the Gaia space project. In this work, continuing this topic, the properties of the latest release of the Gaia EDR3 stellar catalog, containing 1.8 billion objects, are analyzed in detail. Methods of processing its data on personal computers accessible to most users are discussed. A detailed statistical study of the catalog was carried out, and the distribution of stars in the celestial sphere was obtained, making it possible to assess the volume and quality of the material. The analysis of the three-band photometry of the catalog is made, and the distributions of color indices and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram are plotted.