Largest Museums Collection Comparison (Items)
Compare the 10 largest museums by collection items, from the Smithsonian at 157M to Korea at 500K. Exact full object totals with museum sources listed.
Visual comparison
All values
Click any row to load it as Entry A.
| Name | Value | Context | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smithsonian Institution Largest museum complex. Natural History holds 145.8M. | 157,000,000 items | Washington DC, USA, 19 museums plus zoo | Smithsonian dashboard FY2025: 157.6M objects and specimens |
| Natural History Museum London Largest single natural history stock here. | 80,000,000 items | London, UK, natural history | NHM London collection guides: 80M specimens |
| Field Museum Second US natural history stock here. | 40,000,000 items | Chicago, USA, natural history | Field Museum collection guides: 40M specimens and artifacts |
| American Museum of Natural History Hayden Planetarium anchor. | 32,000,000 items | New York, USA, natural history | Wikipedia largest museums: AMNH 32,000,000 items |
| British Museum Only 80,000 on display at once. | 8,000,000 items | London, UK, human culture | British Museum fact sheet: 8M objects |
| State Hermitage Museum Second largest art stock here. | 3,150,000 items | Saint Petersburg, Russia, art | Wikipedia largest museums: Hermitage 3,150,428 items |
| Palace Museum Beijing Forbidden City halls. | 1,862,000 items | Beijing, China, imperial art | Wikipedia largest museums: Palace Museum 1,862,690 items |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art Largest US art stock. | 1,500,000 items | New York, USA, art | Met collection guides: 1.5M objects |
| Louvre 30,000 on display. Most visited. | 646,000 items | Paris, France, art | Wikipedia largest museums: Louvre 645,797 items |
| National Museum of Korea Smallest row here. | 500,000 items | Seoul, South Korea, archaeology and art | Wikipedia largest museums: Korea almost 500,000 items |
About this converter
The Smithsonian holds 157 million objects across 19 museums, about double Natural History London at 80 million. Field Museum at 40 and American Museum of Natural History at 32 follow. British Museum at 8, Hermitage at 3.15, Palace Museum at 1.86, Met at 1.5, Louvre at 0.65 and Korea at 0.5 close the table. Counts mix specimens, artifacts and artworks. Natural history museums count tens of millions of insects and fossils. Art museums count hundreds of thousands of pieces. That method split explains the huge gap at the top.
How to use it
Pick two museums and a unit in the top row. The three boxes below stay linked. Change any box and the other two update. Try Smithsonian against the Louvre to see the 243 times gap. The bars below use a log scale since max runs over 300 times min, so small bars stay visible. Switch the unit to millions for short figures. Ratios are exact divisions of the item totals.
Specimens vs artworks splits this table. Smithsonian 157.6M in FY2025 dashboard sits beside 155M factsheet totals. Natural History London 80M and Field 40M count specimens. AMNH 32M matches Wikipedia. British 8M matches its fact sheet with 80,000 on display. Hermitage 3,150,428, Palace 1,862,690 and Louvre 645,797 match Wikipedia. Met 1.5M and Korea 0.5M match collection guides. Display counts stay far below totals everywhere.
FAQ
What is the largest museum collection?
Smithsonian at 157M objects. Natural History London follows at 80M specimens.
How many items does the Louvre hold?
645,797 per Wikipedia. Only 30,000 show at once.
Why do natural history museums lead?
Specimen counting. Insects and fossils number in the tens of millions per house.
How many does the British Museum hold?
8M objects. About 80,000 display at once, near 1 percent.
Sources
- Smithsonian dashboard FY2025: 157.6M objects and specimens; factsheet 155M; Natural History 145.8M
- Natural History Museum London guides: 80M specimens; Field Museum guides: 40M; Wikipedia largest museums: AMNH 32M
- British Museum fact sheet: 8M objects; Wikipedia largest museums: Hermitage 3,150,428; Palace Museum 1,862,690; Louvre 645,797; Korea almost 500,000; Met guides 1.5M
Last verified: 2026-10-09 · 10 entries
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