The Russian Museum of Ethnography is one of the largest ethnographic museums in the world. Its collections number about half a million exhibits consisting of objects of everyday life of peoples of Russia and adjacent countries.

Collections of the museum (near 350000 exhibits) store monuments on 157 large and small peoples of Russia and the adjacent countries, covering the period from the end of XVIII century till today. Unique collections of original photos (150000 negatives and pictures), the library and the scientific archive including world famous archive of the Ethnographic bureau of prince Tenisheva organically supplement the material monuments.