A magnetic recording medium includes a non-magnetic substrate, an inorganic compound layer that is formed on the substrate and which contains a crystalline first oxide and a second oxide, and a magnetic layer that is formed on the inorganic compound layer. The crystalline first oxide comprises at least one oxide selected from cobalt oxide, chromium oxide, iron oxide and nickel oxide. The second oxide comprises at least one oxide selected from silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, tantalum oxide and zinc oxide. The second oxide is present at a grain boundary of crystal grains of said first oxide. According to the present invention, magnetic recording media low in noise and diminished in thermal fluctuation and thermal decay can be obtained by making fine the crystal grains of a magnetic layer and controlling the dispersion of the grain size. Thus, magnetic recording apparatuses can be realized which can perform an ultrahigh density magnetic recording of higher than 20 Gb/in2.