A facile solution-phase process has been demonstrated for the selective preparation of single-crystalline bismuth nanowires and nanospheres by reducing sodium bismuthate with ethylene glycol in the presence of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) or acetone. Bismuth nanobelts and Bi/Bi(2)O(3) nanocables could be also obtained by changing some reaction parameters. Various techniques such as XRD, EDXA, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, and FT-IR have been used to investigate the physical characteristics of these low-dimensional bismuth nanostructures.