two
Each human somatic cell a body cell, or every cell other than a gamete normally has two sets of chromosomes, one set inherited from each parent. These cells are said to have a diploid number of chromosomes. Each set contains 23 chromosomes, for a total of 46 chromosomes. Each chromosome differs in size, from about 250 million nucleotide pairs on the largest chromosome chromosome #1 to less than 50 million nucleotide pairs on chromosome #22. Each chromosome contains a specific set of genes, as well as regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences, making each chromosome essential to survival.