A metal halide lamp using a ceramic arc tube in which less lamp flickering occurs, the flux maintenance factor during the lifetime is high and the possibility of lamp break-off is low. The metal halide lamp includes an arc tube 1 in which iodide pellet of metal halide is filled, and a pair of electrodes are arranged in the ceramic arc tube so that the electrode coils are facing each other. The following relation is satisfied: 0.00056×W+0.061≦&agr;≦0.0056×W+1.61 where &agr; (in mm) denotes a length of the portion of the electrode bar protruding from the end face of the electrode coil and W (in Watt) denotes the lamp power.