The Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences is one of the largest and oldest ethnographic museums in the world. It is the successor to the first Russian state public museum, the famous Kunstkamera, founded by Peter I in 1714. The Kunstkamera was created with the purpose of collecting and studying rarities created by nature and human hands.

Today, the Kunstkamera is not only an academic museum, but also one of the leading research centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It continues the traditions of the great Russian ethnographers and anthropologists of the XVIII – XX centuries.

The priceless ethnographic, anthropological and archaeological collections stored in the Museum are among the most complete and interesting in the world. They number more than 1.2 million exhibits, reflect the diversity of cultures of the peoples of the Old and New Worlds, and are part of the cultural heritage of all mankind.