We present a multiwavelength analysis of the young open cluster NGC 2362; UBVRCIC CCD photometric observations, together with available data in the Chandra database, near-infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and recently published Hα spectroscopy were used to get information about the evolutionary stage of the cluster and the main physical properties of its stellar content. Cluster membership is estimated for every individual star by means of zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) and isochrone fitting. The cluster is confirmed to host a rich population of pre-main-sequence (PMS) objects and to contain a large number of X-ray-emitting stars, which reach from the PMS members of GK spectral type up to the most luminous OB main-sequence (MS) members. The PMS cluster members show no significant age spread, and the comparison to both PMS and post-MS isochrones suggests an homogeneous age for all cluster members. The analysis allows us to assess the validity of currently used PMS evolutionary models and supports the suggestion of a well-defined positive correlation of the X-ray emission from PMS stars with their bolometric luminosity. Clear differences are found between the X-ray activity properties of MS and PMS cluster members, both in the relation between X-ray luminosity and bolometric luminosity, and in spectral properties as well.