Abstract. Angle-resolved photoemission data are dis-cussed for five different Xe adlayers which exhibit electronic structures of different dimensionalities. Xe adsorption on Ni(110)-(12)-3Hand the ( )R30 Xe layer on Ru(001) reveal two-dimensional (2D) Xe-derived band structures that are characteristic for hexagonal rare-gas layers. Different Xe 5p dispersion widths on Ni and on Ru are found due to the difference in the Xe-Xe nearest-neighbor distance. For three rare-gas systems (two different Xe coverages on hydrogen-modified Pt(110)-(12)-H and Kr step decoration on a Pt(997) surface) true one-dimensional (1D) band structures are found. For Xe step adsorption on Pt(997), electronic localized (0D) behavior is observed due to an enlarged Xe-Xe separation. The qualitative differences of the band structures in the case of 2D, 1D and 0D rare-gas systems are demonstrated and are explained by the different dimensionalities of the various structures.