British Museum
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The British Museum is a major national museum located in London that houses one of the world's largest collections of art, artifacts, and historical objects. It preserves and displays items spanning human history and culture, making it an important resource for education, research, and public understanding of civilizations from around the world.
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The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. Established in 1753, the British Museum was the world's first public national museum. In 2025, the museum received 6,440,120 visitors and was the second most visited attraction in the United Kingdom.
At its beginning, the museum was largely based on the collections of the Anglo-Irish physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. It opened to the public in 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. The museum's expansion over the following 250 years was largely a result of British colonisation and resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, or independent spin-offs, the first being the Natural History Museum in 1881. Some of its best-known acquisitions, such as the Greek Elgin Marbles and the Egyptian Rosetta Stone, are subject to long-term disputes and repatriation claims.
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1753 establishments in EnglandArchaeological museums in LondonArt museums and galleries in LondonAsian art museums in the United KingdomBritish MuseumBuildings and structures completed in 1847Buildings and structures completed in 2000Buildings and structures in BloomsburyCharities based in LondonEgyptological collections in LondonExempt charities