High phase purity barium metazirconate powders have been synthesized from a modified solid-state reaction. Reactive powders consisting of submicron particles and narrow particle size distribution were obtained by heating a 1: 1 molar mixture of barium nitrate and zirconyl nitrate at 800degreesC up to 8 h. Simultaneous thermal analysis (TG-DTA) assisted in elucidating the probable reaction pathways leading to the formation of the target compound in the BaO-ZrO2 system. Systematic structural and microstructural characterization on the green powders and the compacts sintered up to 1700degreesC were carried out. A two-stage sintering schedule consisting of a 6 h soak at 1600degreesC followed by slow heating up to 1700degreesC with no dwell, led to highly dense microstructural features.