# List of largest museums

Museums hold large collections of items relating to their subject, building some of the largest complexes in the world in order to store and exhibit the collection in a controlled atmosphere. The world's most important museums have also engaged in various expansion projects through the years, expanding their total exhibition space.

## List

The following is a list of museums ranked according to their floor area where published by reliable sources. Only museums with more than 20,000 square meters (220,000 sq ft) of floor space are included. Entries are not ranked as large museums that do not have reliably-sourced statistics may be omitted; this is not necessarily a complete list.
| Name | City | Year established | Subject | Floor area | Exhibition space | Collection | Country |
| Louvre | Paris | 1792 | Art, architecture, history | 758,000 m$^2$ (8,160,000 sq ft) | 72,735 m$^2$ (782,910 sq ft) | 645,797, of which 30,000 are on display (2021) | France |
| State Hermitage Museum | Saint Petersburg | 1764 | Art | 233,345 m$^2$ (2,511,700 sq ft) | 66,842 m$^2$ (719,480 sq ft) | 3,150,428 | Russia |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York City | 1870 | Art | 200,000 m$^2$ (2,200,000 sq ft) | 58,800 m$^2$ (633,000 sq ft) | | United States |
| American Museum of Natural History | New York City | 1869 | Natural History | 1,790,000 sq ft (166,296 m$^2$) | | 32,000,000 | United States |
| British Museum | London | 1753 | Archaeology and art | 92,000 m$^2$ (990,000 sq ft) | 65,752 m$^2$ (707,750 sq ft) | More than 8,000,000 (largest in the world) | United Kingdom |
| National Museum of China | Beijing | 1959 | Archaeology and art | 191,900 m$^2$ (2,066,000 sq ft) | 65,000 m$^2$ (700,000 sq ft) | More than 1.4 million | China |
| Grand Egyptian Museum | Giza | 2024 | Archaeology | 81,000 m$^2$ (870,000 sq ft) | 38,000 m$^2$ (410,000 sq ft) | over 100,000 artifacts | Egypt |
| Uffizi | Florence | 1865 | Art | 63,000 m$^2$ (680,000 sq ft) | 13,000 m$^2$ (140,000 sq ft) | | Italy |
| Museum of Science and Industry | Chicago | 1933 | Science and technology | | 37,000 m$^2$ (400,000 sq ft) | more than 35,000 | United States |
| Minneapolis Institute of Art | Minneapolis | 1883 | Art | 50,600 m$^2$ (545,000 sq ft) | 32,000 m$^2$ (340,000 sq ft) | More than 100,000 | United States |
| National Museum of Natural History | Washington, D.C. | 1910 | Natural history | 123,000 m$^2$ (1,320,000 sq ft) | 30,200 m$^2$ (325,000 sq ft) | (Artifacts not samples) | United States |
| Victoria and Albert Museum | London | 1852 | Art | | 30,000 m$^2$ (320,000 sq ft) | 2,278,183 (60,124 on display) | United Kingdom |
| German Museum of Technology | Berlin | 1982 | Science and technology | | 28,500 m$^2$ (307,000 sq ft) | | Germany |
| Science Museum | London | 1857 | Science and technology | | 27,500 m$^2$ (296,000 sq ft) | | United Kingdom |
| Palace Museum | Beijing | 1925 | Archaeology and art | 150,000 m$^2$ (1,600,000 sq ft) | | 1,862,690 | China |
| National Museum of Korea | Seoul | 1945 | Archaeology and art | 138,156.26 m$^2$ (1,487,101.6 sq ft) | | | South Korea |
| National Gallery of Art | Washington, D.C. | 1937 | Art | 120,000 m$^2$ (1,300,000 sq ft) | 25,200 m$^2$ (271,000 sq ft) | More than 150,000 | United States |
| Germanisches Nationalmuseum | Nuremberg | 1852 | Art, architecture, history | | 27,000 m$^2$ (290,000 sq ft) | More than 1,300,000 | Germany |
| Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago | 1879 | Art | 93,000 m$^2$ (1,000,000 sq ft) | | Almost 300,000 | United States |
| Museo Reina Sofía | Madrid | 1992 | Art | 84,048 m$^2$ (904,690 sq ft) | | | Spain |
| Israel Museum | Jerusalem | 1965 | Art | 80,000 m$^2$ (860,000 sq ft) | 19,000 m$^2$ (200,000 sq ft) | | Israel |
| Canadian Museum of History | Gatineau | 1856 | History | 75,000 m$^2$ (810,000 sq ft) | 25,000 m$^2$ (270,000 sq ft) | | Canada |
| National Museum of American History | Washington, D.C. | 1964 | History | 70,000 m$^2$ (750,000 sq ft) | | More than 1.8 million | United States |
| Deutsches Museum | Munich | 1903 | Science and technology | 66,000 m$^2$ (710,000 sq ft) | 40,000 m$^2$ (430,000 sq ft) | 125,000 | Germany |
| Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie | Paris | 1986 | Science and technology | | 30,000 m$^2$ (320,000 sq ft) | | France |
| Museum of Modern Art | New York City | 1929 | Art | 65,800 m$^2$ (708,000 sq ft) | 15,400 m$^2$ (166,000 sq ft) | Almost 200,000 | United States |
| National Gallery Singapore | Singapore | 2015 | Art | 64,000 m$^2$ (690,000 sq ft) | | More than 9,000 | Singapore |
| National Air and Space Museum | Washington, D.C. | 1946 | Aerospace | 63,800 m$^2$ (687,000 sq ft) | 14,970.9 m$^2$ (161,145 sq ft) | More than 60,000 | United States |
| Pergamon Museum | Berlin | 1910 | Archaeology and art | 60,200 m$^2$ (648,000 sq ft)+ | 18,200 m$^2$ (196,000 sq ft)+ | | Germany |
| Art & History Museum | Brussels | 1835 | Art, archaeology, history | 60,000 m$^2$ (650,000 sq ft) | | | Belgium |
| Cité du Train | Mulhouse | 1971 | Railway | 60,000 m$^2$ (650,000 sq ft) | 35,000 m$^2$ (380,000 sq ft) | | France |
| Musée d'Orsay | Paris | 1986 | Art | 57,400 m$^2$ (618,000 sq ft) | | | France |
| Toledo Museum of Art | Toledo, Ohio | 1901 | Art | | 26,000 m$^2$ (280,000 sq ft) | | United States |
| Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | Boston | 1870 | Art | 57,315.3 m$^2$ (616,937 sq ft) | 20,556.4 m$^2$ (221,267 sq ft) | Almost 500,000 | United States |
| MASS MoCA | North Adams | 1999 | Art | 56,000 m$^2$ (600,000 sq ft) | 23,000 m$^2$ (250,000 sq ft) | No permanent collection | United States |
| Vatican Museums | Vatican City | 1506 | art and archaeology | 55,000 m$^2$ (590,000 sq ft) | 43,000 m$^2$ (460,000 sq ft) | | Vatican City |
| National Museum of Norway | Oslo | 2003 | Art | 54,600 m$^2$ (588,000 sq ft) | 13,000 m$^2$ (140,000 sq ft) | | Norway |
| National Gallery of Canada | Ottawa | 1880 | Art | 53,265 m$^2$ (573,340 sq ft) | 12,400 m$^2$ (133,000 sq ft) | | Canada |
| Montreal Museum of Fine Arts | Montreal | 1860 | Art | 53,095 m$^2$ (571,510 sq ft) | | | Canada |
| Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya | Barcelona | 1934 | Art | 51,600 m$^2$ (555,000 sq ft) | 12,793 m$^2$ (137,700 sq ft) | | Spain |
| The Henry Ford | Dearborn | 1929 | History | 48,600 m$^2$ (523,000 sq ft) | | | United States |
| National Gallery | London | 1824 | Art | 46,396 m$^2$ (499,400 sq ft) | | | United Kingdom |
| Three Gorges Museum | Chongqing | 2005 | Archaeology and art | 45,098 m$^2$ (485,430 sq ft) | 23,225 m$^2$ (249,990 sq ft) | | China |
| Rijksmuseum | Amsterdam | 1800 | Art | 45,000 m$^2$ (480,000 sq ft) | 30,000 m$^2$ (320,000 sq ft) | | Netherlands |
| Polish History Museum | Warsaw | 2023 | History | 44,000 m$^2$ (470,000 sq ft) | 9,700 m$^2$ (104,000 sq ft) | | Poland |
| National Museum of Anthropology | Mexico City | 1825 | Archaeology | 45,000 m$^2$ (480,000 sq ft) | 17,440.18 m$^2$ (187,724.5 sq ft) | 600,000 | Mexico |
| Shandong Art Museum | Jinan | 1977 | Art | | | | China |
| Arsenal (Biennale) | Venice | 1895 | Art | | | | Italy |
| Musée National d'Art Moderne | Paris | 1947 | Art | 20,710 m$^2$ (222,900 sq ft) | 18,110 m$^2$ (194,900 sq ft) | 127,665 | France |
| San Francisco Museum of Modern Art | San Francisco | 1935 | Art | 43,000 m$^2$ (460,000 sq ft) | 16,000 m$^2$ (170,000 sq ft) | | United States |
| Museo del Prado | Madrid | 1819 | Art | 42,000 m$^2$ (450,000 sq ft) | | circa 20,500 | Spain |
| Denver Art Museum | Denver | 1918 | Art | 37,700 m$^2$ (406,000 sq ft) | | | United States |
| Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo | São Paulo | 1951 | Art | | | | Brazil |
| Dia Beacon | Beacon | 2003 | Art | | | | United States |
| Dallas Museum of Art | Dallas | 1903 | Art | 34,000 m$^2$ (370,000 sq ft) | 14,000 m$^2$ (150,000 sq ft) | over 24,000 | United States |
| National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art | Gwacheon | 1969 | Art | 73,000 m$^2$ (790,000 sq ft) | | | South Korea |
| Detroit Institute of Arts | Detroit | 1885 | Art | 61,100 m$^2$ (658,000 sq ft) | | over 65,000 | United States |
| Tokyo National Art Center | Tokyo | 2007 | Art | | | | Japan |
| National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts | Taichung | 1988 | Art | | | | Taiwan |
| National Gallery Prague (Veletržní) | Prague | 1796 | Art | | 13,500 m$^2$ (145,000 sq ft) | | Czech Republic |
| Indianapolis Museum of Art | Indianapolis | 1883 | Art | 62,000 m$^2$ (670,000 sq ft) | 16,600 m$^2$ (179,000 sq ft) | | United States |
| Bavarian National Museum | Munich | 1855 | Art | | 13,000 m$^2$ (140,000 sq ft) | | Germany |
| Bode Museum | Berlin | 1904 | art and numismatics | 25,300 m$^2$ (272,000 sq ft) | 11,500 m$^2$ (124,000 sq ft) | | Germany |
| Capital Museum | Beijing | 1981 | Archaeology and art | | | | China |
| Vienna Technical Museum | Vienna | 1908 | Science and technology | | 22,000 m$^2$ (240,000 sq ft) | | Austria |
| National Gallery of Victoria (St Kilda Road) | Melbourne | 1861 | Art | | | | Australia |
| Palais de Tokyo | Paris | 2001 | Art | | | | France |
| Salar Jung Museum | Hyderabad | 1855 | Art | | | | India |
| Virginia Museum of Fine Arts | Richmond | 1934 | Art | 82,853.8 m$^2$ (891,831 sq ft) | 13,200 m$^2$ (142,100 sq ft) | | United States |
| Tate Modern | London | 2000 | Art | 34,500 m$^2$ (371,000 sq ft) | 12,427 m$^2$ (133,760 sq ft) | | United Kingdom |
| Cleveland Museum of Art | Cleveland | 1913 | Art | | | | United States |
| Art Gallery of Ontario | Toronto | 1900 | Art | | | | Canada |
| Hamburger Kunsthalle | Hamburg | 1869 | Art | | 13,000 m$^2$ (140,000 sq ft) | | Germany |
| Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen | Rotterdam | 1849 | Art | | | | Netherlands |
| Houston Museum of Fine Arts | Houston | 1900 | Art | | 27,870 m$^2$ (300,000 sq ft) | ~70,000 | United States |
| National Gallery of Modern Art | New Delhi | 1954 | Art | | | | India |
| Pinakothek der Moderne | Munich | 2002 | Art | 33,300 m$^2$ (358,000 sq ft) | 12,000 m$^2$ (130,000 sq ft) | | Germany |
| Neue Pinakothek | Munich | 1853 | Art | 30,616 m$^2$ (329,550 sq ft) | | | Germany |
| Tretyakov Gallery (Krymsky Val) | Moscow | 1985 | Art | | | | Russia |
| Musée National de l'Automobile | Mulhouse | 1982 | Automobiles | 25,000 m$^2$ (270,000 sq ft) | 17,000 m$^2$ (180,000 sq ft) | | France |
| Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille | Lille | 1809 | Art | 22,000 m$^2$ (240,000 sq ft) | 12,000 m$^2$ (130,000 sq ft) | | France |