The present invention has an object to provide a Mach-Zehnder optical modulator for achieving the reduction of wavelength chirping caused in a modulated light. To this end, according to the present invention, in a Mach-Zehnder optical modulator configured by forming an optical waveguide and a coplanar electrode on a substrate having an electro-optic effect, a polarization inversion region is formed on a part of a portion where lights being propagated through a pair of parallel waveguides and a high frequency electric signal being propagated through a signal electrode interact to each other, and also the signal electrode is arranged on one of the parallel waveguides in the polarization inversion region and is arranged on the other parallel waveguide in a non-inversion region.