AbstractFifty‐five soil samples representing Egyptian alluvial and lacustrine soils were chemically analyzed for total Se which was found to vary from 0.18 to 0.85 ppm with an average of 0.45 ppm. These levels are positively correlated with organic matter, total carbonate and clay content of the soils. Minimum variation of total Se with soil depth was found.The chemical fractionation of soil Se, expressed as percent of the total, indicates that on the average about 25.4 % exists in 0.2 M K2SO4‐extractable form, 18.5 % is extracted with 0.5 N NH4OH, 9.7 % as 6 N HCl‐extractable form and 13.8 % as extractable with 9 N HNO3. Amounts of K2SO4‐Se and HNO3‐Se in soils correlated significantly with soil organic matter, total carbonate, free iron oxide and clay content. The NH4OH‐Se and HCl‐Se fractions correlated significantly only with organic matter and clay content. There is also significant correlation between total Se and the studied Se fractions.Specific adsorption of Se by soils was low as expressed by the Langmiur adsorption maximum values. The high soil pH has a reducing effect on