The catalytic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur was investigated on four rare earth orthovanadates REVO4 (R-E was Ce, Y, La or Sm) and three magnesium vanadates (MgV2O6, Mg2V2O7, and Mg3V2O8). These catalysts were prepared with the citrate method. Catalytic performances of REVO4 were found to be superior to those of magnesium vanadates. Among the rare earth orthovanadates, the sulfur yield decreased in the order CeVO4>YVO4>SmVO4>LaVO4. The sulfur yields of REVO4 and MgV2O6 were much better than those of the corresponding single-oxide catalysts, which might be due to the reducibility difference between vanadium cation and R-E(3+) (or Mg2+). H-2-temperature programmed reduction (TPR) results showed that the reduction of vanadium cations in REVO4 was more difficult than that in vanadium oxide alone. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements indicated that the bulk structures of rare earth orthovanadates and magnesium vanadates were much more stable than that of single vanadium oxide; this result suggests that these binary oxides exhibited better resistance to sulfidation or sulfation.