The Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM) has five scientific departments: Anthropology, Botany, Geology and Palaeontology, Mineralogy and Petrology, Zoology. More than ten million natural history items, including 44,110 primary types are preserved in the collections. The collections hold important reference and historical information for the whole of the Carpathian Basin, the Balkans, Asia Minor, Central, Inner and Eastern Asia, Africa and South America. Many of its historical collections are 200 to 300 years old. These historical collections serve as reference specimens and data for taxonomists and are also an important source for science history.

An ever-increasing part of the collection is digitised. The Library contains more than 300,000 volumes. The catalogue of the library is available via the Internet. The science history collection catalogue is also catalogued in digital format. Furthermore the HNHM hosts one of the most popular and frequently visited exhibitions in Hungary.