A thinning algorithm changes a binary fingerprint image to one pixel width. A thinning stage occupies 40% cycle of 32-bit RISC microprocessor system for a fingerprint identification algorithm. Hardware block processing is more effective than software one in speed, because a thinning algorithm is iteration of simple instructions. This paper describes an effective hardware scheme for thinning stage processing using the Verilog-HDL in $160 imes192$ Pixel Array. The ZS algorithm was applied for a thinning stage. The hardware scheme was designed and simulated in RTL. The logic was also synthesized by XST in FPGA environment. Experimental results show the performance of the proposed scheme.