A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most national museums are privately funded and operated, but have been designated by Congress as national institutions that are important to the country. In other countries a much greater number of museums are run by the central government.

The following is an incomplete list of national museums:

The Albanian government operates several national museums, including:

The Argentinian Ministry of Culture operates several national museums, including:

The Australian Government operates several national museums through its various departments, including:

In addition, a number of states in Australia also operate "national museums". These include:

The Federal Public Service for Science Policy Programming in Belgium operates several museum associations:

The government of Brunei operates several museums including: