We present a short overview on the extragalactic background radiation from radio to X-rays, with an eye to the relation to galaxy formation and emphasizing on astrophysical backgrounds (as opposed to cosmological). As the radio background, the wealth of data on source counts make possible reliable estimations of the contribution from extragalactic sources. At 178 MHz we obtain an antenna temperature of about 22 K, with the 60% of the flux contributed by radiogalaxies and quasars and the remaining part from sub-mJy radio sources. At high frequencies the compact sources, generally QSOs, dominate. An intense far-IR/sub-mm background is predicted if a large fraction of the hard X-ray Background (XRB) comes from starburst galaxies but this might face problems with the upper limits on the far-IR isotropic flux. To clarify the problem spectral measurements should be complemented with the analysis of small scale anisotropies. The flattening of the QSO counts at B=19.5 suggests that their contribution to the optical/near-IR background is small in comparison to that of galaxies. As for the XRB, a consisting picture obtains considering two AGN populations: a "soft X-ray spectrum" population and a "hard X-ray spectrum" one, mainly contributing to the soft and to the hard XRB respectively. A third population of extremely absorbed or of reflection dominated AGN could either be the dominant contributor of the XRB above 3 keV.

Invited review presented at the Workshop: "The epoch of galaxy formation", Rome, September 2-4; LateX, 7 pages, ASTRPD-93-2-02