This paper reviews the recent literature on La2O3 catalysts for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), which aims at ethylene production. The following subjects are discussed: (a) the main properties affecting the reaction mechanism such as oxygen vacancy, acid-base property, temperature, and morphology (b) prospects of nano-scale catalysts to improve the performance of the OCM process (c) the contribution of La2O3 nanocatalysts to the formation of ethane and ethylene (C2 hydrocarbon) during the oxidative coupling of methane.