Dielectric ceramic, method for making the same, and monolithic ceramic capacitor

A dielectric ceramic is composed of ABO3as the main component and a rare earth element, wherein A represents barium which may be partly replaced with at least one of calcium and strontium, and B represents titanium which may be partly replaced with at least one selected from zirconium and hafnium. At least 70% of crystal grains of the dielectric ceramic have a cross-section in which a first region containing dissolved rare earth element occupies 5 to 70% of the area of the cross section and a second region free of the dissolved rare earth element occupies 10 to 80% of the periphery of the cross-section. A monolithic ceramic capacitor having thin dielectric ceramic layers composed of this dielectric ceramic exhibits superior capacitance-temperature characteristics and high reliability.