The effects of traps and shallow acceptors on the continuous-wave steady-state photoluminescence of GaAs-(Ga,Al)As quantum-well wires are studied at room temperature. The analysis is based on a quantum-mechanical calculation of the transition rates of radiative recombinations of excited-conduction electrons with free and bound (at acceptors) holes, and on a phenomenological treatment of the nonradiative rates associated with transitions involving conduction electrons falling into traps, and trapped electrons recombining with free holes. The various steady-state radiative and nonradiative e-h recombination lifetimes as function of the cw laser intensity are then obtained, as well as the dependence of the conduction-electron quasi-Fermi level (or chemical potential), and carrier densities on the laser intensity. We have also studied the laser-intensity dependence of various recombination efficiencies and of the integrated photoluminescence intensity. Finally, trap and impurity effects are shown to be quite important in a quantitative understanding of the room temperature steady-state photoluminescence of quantum-well wires. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.