The microstructure and electrical properties of the varistors, which are composed of $ZnO-Pr_6O_{11}-CoO-Cr_2O_3-La_2O_3-based$ ceramics, were investigated for different $La_2O_3$ contents. The increase of $La_2O_3$ content led to more densified ceramics, whereas abruptly decreased the nonlinear properties by incorporating beyond 1.0 mol%. The highest nonlinearity was obtained from 0.5 mol% $La_2O_3$, with the nonlinear coefficient of 81.6 and the leakage current of $0.2{mu}A$. The increase of sintering time and temperature greatly decreased the nonlinear properties. As the $La_2O_3$ content increased, the donor density increased from $0.64 imes10^{18}/cm^3;to;16.89 imes10^{18}/cm^3$ and the barrier height greatly decreased with increasing $La_2O_3$ content, reaching a maximum (1.47 eV) in 0.5 mol% $La_2O_3$.