Compounds (299) containing 494 symmetrically independent pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate moieties have been investigated. Among them the structures of Na3[Nd(Pydc)3]·14H2O and Na3[Er(Pydc)3]·11.5H2O, where H2Pydc is pyridine-2,6-dicarb-oxylic acid, were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, while the others were taken from the Cambridge Structural Database. The characteristics of any complex by means of the method of crystallochemical analysis are described, and the coordination types of all the Pydc ions and crystallochemical formulae of all the compounds were determined. Although the ion can act as a mono-, bi-, tri-, tetra- and pentadentate ligand, 96% of Pydc ions are coordinated to the central A atom in the tridentate-chelating mode. The dependence of the denticity and geometry of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate, as well as of the composition of Pydc-containing complexes, was studied as a function of the nature of the A atom, the molar ratio Pydc:A and the presence of neutral or acidic ligands in the reaction mixture.