For possible applications as luminescent materials for white-light emission using UV-LEDs, $Ba_2Mg(PO_4)_2:Eu^{2+}$ phosphors were prepared by a solid state reaction. The photoluminescence properties of the phosphor were investigated under ultraviolet ray (UV) excitation. The prepared phosphor powders were characterized to from a single phase of a monoclinic crystalline structure by a powder X-ray diffraction analysis. In the photoluminescence spectra, the $Ba_2Mg(PO_4)_2:Eu^{2+}$ phosphor showed an intense emission band centered at the 584 nm wavelength due to the f-d transition of the $Eu^{2+}$ activator. The optimum concentration of $Eu^{2+}$ activator in the $Ba_2Mg(PO_4)_2$ host, indicating the maximum emission intensity under the excitation of a 395 nm wavelength, was 5 at%. In addition, it was confirmed that the $Eu^{2+}$ ions are substituted at both $Ba^{2+}$ sites in the $Ba_2Mg(PO_4)_2$ crystal. On the other hand, the critical distance of energy transfer between $Eu^{2+}$ ions in the $Ba_2Mg(PO_4)_2$ host was evaluated to be approximately 19.3 A. With increasing temperature, the emission intensity of the $Ba_2Mg(PO_4)_2$:Eu phosphor was considerably decreased and the central wavelength of the emission peak was shifted toward a short wavelength.