Abstract <p>The rare earth elements: scandium yttrium, lanthanum, and 14 lanthanides are key elements of many modern materials and technologies today. An increase in the extraction and production of rare earth elements and the products containing them leads to anthropogenic soil pollution. Proper understanding and prediction of the effects of soil pollution with rare earth elements requires knowledge of how their chemical properties influence the interaction with soil components and soil as a whole. The review systematizes the available information about the chemical properties of rare earth elements in soils; specific features of their interaction with clay minerals, iron and manganese (hydr)oxides, and humic substances, and considers the mechanisms underlying the formation of europium and cerium anomalies in soils. The heterogeneity in the content of rare earth elements in soil-forming rocks and soils, different abundances of even- and odd-numbered lanthanides, and the need to standardize the content of lanthanides according to standard are demonstrated. An important role of the iron and manganese minerals in the fixation of lanthanides in soils and the mechanisms underlying the changes in the oxidation states of europium and cerium leading to their redistribution under periodic water saturation are clarified. The competition of organic matter with iron and manganese (hydr)oxides for the adsorption of rare earth elements in soils is analyzed.</p>