Disclosed are a wire grid polarizer, which exhibits high polarization, p-polarized light transmittance, and s-polarized light reflectance in the visible light region, and the optical characteristics of which have low angular dependence and wavelength dependence, and a manufacturing method for the same. A wire grid polarizer (10) comprises a light transmissive substrate (14), on the surface of which a multiplicity of convex strips (12), the width of which gradually narrows from the base to the apex, is formed parallel to one another with intervening flat spots (13) formed between the convex strips (12), and at a specified pitch (Pp), and a metallic layer (20), which covers the entire surface of a first side face (16) of the convex strip (12) and a portion of the flat spot (13) adjacent thereto, and either does not cover a second side face (18) of the convex strip (12) or covers a portion of a second side face (18); and a manufacturing method forms a metallic layer (20) by vapor depositioning a metal or metal compound from a direction that is substantially orthogonal to the length direction of the convex strips (12) and forms a 25-40 DEG angle relative to the height direction of the convex strips (12) on the side of the first side face (16), under conditions in which the deposition amount is 40-60 nm.