diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index de21e5c..cb08f09 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 ![coverage](https://img.shields.io/badge/Coverage-96-darkred)
 [![dependencies](https://img.shields.io/badge/Dependencies-1-blueviolet)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/hyparquet-writer?activeTab=dependencies)
 
+Hyparquet Writer is a JavaScript library for writing [Apache Parquet](https://parquet.apache.org) files. It is designed to be lightweight, fast and store data very efficiently. It is a companion to the [hyparquet](https://github.com/hyparam/hyparquet) library, which is a JavaScript library for reading parquet files.
+
 ## Usage
 
 Call `parquetWrite` with a list of columns, each column is an object with a `name` and `data` field. The `data` field should be an array of same-type values.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9203afb..1d8744c 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@
     "test": "vitest run"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "hyparquet": "1.10.2"
+    "hyparquet": "1.10.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@babel/eslint-parser": "7.27.0",
-    "@types/node": "22.13.17",
+    "@types/node": "22.14.0",
     "@vitest/coverage-v8": "3.1.1",
     "eslint": "9.23.0",
     "eslint-plugin-jsdoc": "50.6.9",
diff --git a/src/write.js b/src/write.js
index 9758998..ed12ac2 100644
--- a/src/write.js
+++ b/src/write.js
@@ -6,74 +6,79 @@ import { getSchemaElementForValues } from './schema.js'
 /**
  * Write data as parquet to an ArrayBuffer
  *
- * @import {ColumnChunk, DecodedArray, FileMetaData, SchemaElement, SchemaTree} from 'hyparquet'
+ * @import {ColumnChunk, DecodedArray, FileMetaData, RowGroup, SchemaElement, SchemaTree} from 'hyparquet'
  * @import {KeyValue} from 'hyparquet/src/types.js'
  * @import {ColumnData} from '../src/types.js'
  * @param {object} options
  * @param {ColumnData[]} options.columnData
  * @param {boolean} [options.compressed]
+ * @param {number} [options.rowGroupSize]
  * @param {KeyValue[]} [options.kvMetadata]
  * @returns {ArrayBuffer}
  */
-export function parquetWrite({ columnData, compressed = true, kvMetadata }) {
+export function parquetWrite({ columnData, compressed = true, rowGroupSize = 100000, kvMetadata }) {
+  const num_rows = columnData.length ? BigInt(columnData[0].data.length) : 0n
   const writer = new Writer()
 
-  // Check if all columns have the same length
-  const num_rows = columnData.length ? BigInt(columnData[0].data.length) : 0n
-  for (const { data } of columnData) {
-    if (BigInt(data.length) !== num_rows) {
-      throw new Error('columns must have the same length')
-    }
-  }
-
-  // Write header PAR1
-  writer.appendUint32(0x31524150)
-
-  // schema
+  // construct schema
   /** @type {SchemaElement[]} */
   const schema = [{
     name: 'root',
     num_children: columnData.length,
   }]
-
-  // row group columns
-  /** @type {ColumnChunk[]} */
-  const columns = []
-
-  // Write columns
   for (const { name, data, type } of columnData) {
+    // check if all columns have the same length
+    if (BigInt(data.length) !== num_rows) {
+      throw new Error('columns must have the same length')
+    }
     // auto-detect type
     const schemaElement = getSchemaElementForValues(name, data, type)
     if (!schemaElement.type) throw new Error(`column ${name} cannot determine type`)
-    const file_offset = BigInt(writer.offset)
-    /** @type {SchemaElement[]} */
-    const schemaPath = [
-      schema[0],
-      schemaElement,
-    ]
-    const meta_data = writeColumn(writer, schemaPath, data, compressed)
-
-    // save metadata
     schema.push(schemaElement)
-    columns.push({
-      file_path: name,
-      file_offset,
-      meta_data,
+  }
+
+  // write header PAR1
+  writer.appendUint32(0x31524150)
+
+  /** @type {RowGroup[]} */
+  const row_groups = []
+  for (let i = 0; i < num_rows; i += rowGroupSize) {
+    const groupStart = writer.offset
+
+    // row group columns
+    /** @type {ColumnChunk[]} */
+    const columns = []
+
+    // write columns
+    for (let i = 0; i < columnData.length; i++) {
+      const { name, data } = columnData[i]
+      const file_offset = BigInt(writer.offset)
+      const schemaPath = [schema[0], schema[i + 1]]
+      const meta_data = writeColumn(writer, schemaPath, data, compressed)
+
+      // save metadata
+      columns.push({
+        file_path: name,
+        file_offset,
+        meta_data,
+      })
+    }
+
+    row_groups.push({
+      columns,
+      total_byte_size: BigInt(writer.offset - groupStart),
+      num_rows: BigInt(Math.min(rowGroupSize, Number(num_rows) - i)),
     })
   }
 
-  // Write metadata
+  // write metadata
   /** @type {FileMetaData} */
   const metadata = {
     version: 2,
     created_by: 'hyparquet',
     schema,
     num_rows,
-    row_groups: [{
-      columns,
-      total_byte_size: BigInt(writer.offset - 4),
-      num_rows,
-    }],
+    row_groups,
     metadata_length: 0,
     key_value_metadata: kvMetadata,
   }
@@ -81,7 +86,7 @@ export function parquetWrite({ columnData, compressed = true, kvMetadata }) {
   delete metadata.metadata_length
   writeMetadata(writer, metadata)
 
-  // Write footer PAR1
+  // write footer PAR1
   writer.appendUint32(0x31524150)
 
   return writer.getBuffer()
diff --git a/test/write.test.js b/test/write.test.js
index e4ee465..2bd5d3f 100644
--- a/test/write.test.js
+++ b/test/write.test.js
@@ -172,6 +172,22 @@ describe('parquetWrite', () => {
     expect(result[5].double).not.toEqual(0)
   })
 
+  it('splits row groups', async () => {
+    const data = Array(200).fill(13)
+    const file = parquetWrite({ columnData: [{ name: 'int', data }], rowGroupSize: 100 })
+    const metadata = parquetMetadata(file)
+    expect(metadata.row_groups.length).toBe(2)
+    expect(metadata.row_groups[0].num_rows).toBe(100n)
+    expect(metadata.row_groups[1].num_rows).toBe(100n)
+    // round trip
+    const result = await parquetReadObjects({ file })
+    expect(result.length).toBe(200)
+    expect(result[0]).toEqual({ int: 13 })
+    expect(result[99]).toEqual({ int: 13 })
+    expect(result[100]).toEqual({ int: 13 })
+    expect(result[199]).toEqual({ int: 13 })
+  })
+
   it('throws for wrong type specified', () => {
     expect(() => parquetWrite({ columnData: [{ name: 'int', data: [1, 2, 3], type: 'BOOLEAN' }] }))
       .toThrow('parquet cannot write mixed types')