A magnetic recording medium including a substrate, a first underlayer provided on the substrate, a first magnetic layer provided on the first underlayer, a nonmagnetic coupling layer provided on the first magnetic layer, and a second magnetic layer provided on the nonmagnetic coupling layer. The first and second magnetic layers are exchange-coupled, and have magnetizations that are mutually antiparallel in a state where no external field is applied to the magnetic recording medium. Additionally, the first underlayer is made of Cr or a Cr alloy each having a bcc crystal structure and including nitrogen, and further wherein the first underlayer has a thickness in a range of 0.5 nm to 6.0 nm.