Ordered Tb3+-doped zinc oxide nanowire arrays embedded in anodic alumina membranes (AAM) were fabricated by an improved sol-gel method. They have hexagonal wurtzite structure with uniform diameter of about 30 nm and the Tb3+ ions occupy Zn sites or interstitial sites in the crystal. The emission spectra of ZnO:Tb consist of four main lines at 488 nm, 543 nm, 586 mn, and 622 nm under 377 nm excitation, among which the electric dipole transition D-5(4)->F-7(5) (at 543 nm) is the strongest.