The contact characteristics of unidirectional continuous fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite bearings are investigated based on Hwu and Fan's closed form analytical solution. The particular condition of a rigid parabolic cylinder in frictional sliding contact with the composite is evaluated. The influences of sliding direction, fiber material, matrix material, fiber volume fraction and fiber ply orientation on the surface contact pressure are determined and compared with published results. From the analytical results, several important trends for the contact behavior of FRP composite bearings are discussed. The contact parameters for unidirectional FRP composite bearings are optimized using genetic algorithm. The study shows that, in case of unidirectional FRP composite bearings, the highest maximum contact pressure is obtained in the normal direction and hence, the normal direction has the highest wear resistance. It is also observed that increasing the volume fraction of fibers increases the maximum contact pressure in all the three directions. The transverse and parallel directions are least sensitive to the fiber ply orientation, whereas the normal direction shows a considerable change in the maximum contact pressure, contact patch and symmetry parameter with a variation of the fiber ply orientation. With regard to crossply FRP composite bearings, it is found that the contact pressure distribution and the contact patch are same for the transverse and parallel directions. These bearings have more strength along the transverse and parallel directions and less strength along the normal direction t the unidirectional bearings.