A number of divalent metal halides with ethylene glycol as the ligands is reported. The general formula is M(EG) nX 2, where M = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Mg, Ca, Sr; n = 1 – 4; and X = Cl, Br. The compounds are characterized by means of physical measurements and chemical analyses. Ligand field parameters are calculated for the Co, Ni and Cu compounds and the ligands is placed in the spectrochemical and nephelauxetic series. Infrared spectra indicated that both the symmetric and the asymmetric CO stretching vibrations are shifted to lower frequencies and the symmetric CCO bending vibration is shifted to higher frequency. The assignments of the vibrational spectrum of the ligands as appeared in the literature, are discussed. It is shown that ethylene glycol behaves as a normal oxygen donor, and that the ligand can serve as a bidentate chelating as well as a monodentate coordinating agent. Bidentate coordination is deduced for seven compounds and monodentate coordination for eight compounds. The gauche form with respect to the CC bond is present in the complexes.