TiO2 nanowires were grown by thermal oxidation of TiO powder in an oxygen and nitrogen gas environment at 1000 ℃. The ratio of O2 to N2 in an ambient gas was changed to investigate the effect of the gas ratio on the growth of TiO2 nanowires. The oxidation process was carried out at different O2/N2 ratios of 0/100, 25/75, 50/50 and 100/0. No nanowires were formed at O2/N2 ratios of less than 25/75. When the O2/N2 ratio was 50/50, nanowires started to form. As the gas ratio increased to 100/0, the diameter and length of the nanowires increased. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the nanowires were TiO2 with a rutile crystallographic structure. In the XRD pattern, no peaks from the anatase and brookite structures of TiO2 were observed. The diameter of the nanowires decreased along the growth direction, and no catalytic particles were detected at the tips of the nanowires which suggests that the nanowires were grown with a vapor-solid growth mechanism.