The adsorption of carbon dioxide has been studied on a single-crystalline Cr 2 O 3 (0001) film as well as on samples of polycrystalline α-Cr 2 O 3 . The Cr 2 O 3 (0001) film has been grown on the (110) surface of a chromium single crystal. Upon CO 2 dosage, two chemisorbed and two weakly bound adsorption states are identified. We associate the strongly bound carbon dioxide with carboxylates, bent CO δ - 2 species adsorbed on top of the chromium ions of the 'polar' (0001) surface. An assignment to surface carbonate formed upon adsorption on surface oxygen ions is not compatible with the vibrational data. The IR spectra of CO 2 chemisorbed on polycrystalline α-Cr 2 O 3 differ substantially from the IRAS spectra of the CO 2 /Cr 2 O 3 (0001)/Cr(110) system. As the faces of the microcrystals show mainly non-(0001) termination, we consider different modes of coordination of the CO 2 chemisorbates. In particular, bidentate carbonate species are discussed.