Abstarct: In present study, governing equation of pressurized thick axisymmetric cylinders made of heterogeneous and isotropic materials with large deformations is derived by using the nonlinear plane elasticity theory. Because of large deformations along the radial direction and hence existence of nonlinear terms in kinematic equations, the governing equation is a nonlinear second-order equation with variable coefficients, which is solved in plane stress and plane stress states using perturbation theory. According to the equilibrium equation, boundary conditions and different end conditions of the cylinder: two free ends and two fixed ends; radial and circumferential normal stresses and radial displacement in cylindrical shells are analytically calculated. For investigating the accuracy of the results obtained from the analytical solution, the numerical finite element modeling of mentioned cylinder with Abaqus software on the basis of the nonlinear elasticity theory is done and the results of the two methods are compared. This research reveals that the obtained results by using the mentioned analytical solution procedure have good accuracy for cylindrical shells under pressure load.