A state‐of‐the‐art review on various identification schemes proposed for the Hammerstein, Wiener, and Volterra systems is presented with respect to the special problems arising in the identification of unknown nonlinear systems. Past and recent developments in the field of nonlinear system identification, parameter estimation, and nonlinear control schemes along with the nonlinearity issues are also deeply investigated. A comprehensive analysis on various parameter estimation approaches and nonlinear control laws are made adding credit to the noteworthy contributions, constructive arguments, and remarkable breakthroughs of researchers in various research fields. The application of most popular nonlinear control strategies for many nonlinear systems in the existing literature are presented spotlighting their merits and major shortcomings. The challenges faced in the nonlinear control field and their emergences to future directions are projected.