Heavy ion physics with the CMS experiment

The experimental heavy ion program at the Large Hadron Collider has started with the first PbPb collisions in the end of 2010. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration has actively participated in it, by conducting a large variety of measurements. A brief overview of these results is given, including global features of the heavy ion collisions characterized by the pseudorapidity density distributions and azimuthal asymmetries of charged particles, as well as investigations that involve 'hard probes' such as jets, various quarkonium states and electroweak gauge bosons. These experimental results can be related to various properties, like the energy density, shear viscosity and temperature of the medium created in heavy ion collisions, among others.