National archives are central archives maintained by countries or nation states. This article contains a list of national archives. In some countries, national libraries serve the same purpose as national archives - or have archival departments.
Among their more important tasks is ensuring the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both analogically and digitally, for the government itself, researchers and the public.
Some national archives collections are large, holding millions of items spanning several centuries, while others have been created more recently and have modest collections. Many national archives are effectively dispersed, especially in post-colonial countries, and often have smaller local collections due to cultural imperialism and the theft of cultural and national documents and artifacts. There are ongoing international efforts to repatriate these materials to their communities of origin, in particular Indigenous cultural and intellectual property.
In the last decade, digitization projects have made possible to browse records and contents online.
A
B
| Country
|
Archive
|
Location
|
Year
|
Collection size
|
Notable artifacts
|
Image
|
Website
|
| Bahamas
|
National Archives of the Bahamas
|
Nassau
|
1971
|
|
|
|
[13]
|
| Bahrain
|
National Library of Bahrain at Isa Cultural Centre
|
Manama
|
2008
|
|
|
|
[14]
|
| Bangladesh
|
National Archives of Bangladesh
|
Dhaka
|
1973
|
|
|
|
[15]
|
| Barbados
|
National Archives of Barbados
|
Bridgetown
|
|
|
|
|
|
| West Indies Federal Archives Centre
|
Cave Hill, Saint Michael, Barbados
|
2004
|
|
|
|
[16]
|
| Belarus
|
National Archives of Belarus
|
Minsk
|
1927
|
|
|
|
[17]
|
| Belgium
|
National Archives of Belgium
|
Brussels
|
|
|
|
|
[18]
|
| Belize
|
National Archives of Belize
|
Belmopan
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Benin
|
National Archives of Benin
|
Porto-Novo
|
1914
|
|
|
|
[19]
|
| Bermuda
|
Bermuda National Library
|
Hamilton, Bermuda
|
1839
|
|
|
|
[20]
|
| Bhutan
|
National Library & Archives of Bhutan
|
Thimphu
|
1967
|
|
|
|
[21]
|
| Bolivia
|
National Archive and Library of Bolivia
|
Sucre
|
1836
|
|
|
|
[22]
|
| Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
Sarajevo
|
|
|
|
|
[23]
|
| Botswana
|
National Archives of Botswana
|
Gaborone
|
1967
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazil
|
Arquivo Nacional
|
Rio de Janeiro
|
1838
|
- 1,740,000 photographs
- 124,000 films
- 44,000 maps
- 20,000 illustrations
- 4,000 videotapes
|
|
|
[24]
|
| British Virgin Islands
|
Archives and Records Management Unit, Governor's Office
|
Road Town
|
|
|
|
|
[25]
|
| Brunei
|
Brunei National Archives
|
Bandar Seri Begawan
|
1983
|
|
|
|
|
| Bulgaria
|
Bulgarian Archives State Agency
|
Sofia
|
|
|
|
|
[26]
|
| Burkina Faso
|
National Archives Centre
|
Ouagadougou
|
|
|
|
|
[27]
|
| Burundi
|
DMS Burundi
|
Bujumbura
|
|
|
|
|
|
C
| Country
|
Archive
|
Location
|
Year
|
Collection size
|
Notable artifacts
|
Image
|
Website
|
| Cambodia
|
National Archives of Cambodia
|
Phnom Penh
|
|
|
|
|
[28]
|
| Cameroon
|
National Archives of Cameroon
|
Yaoundé
|
1966
|
|
|
|
|
| Canada
|
Library and Archives Canada
|
Ottawa
|
2004
|
- 30,000,000 photographs
- 20,000,000 books
- 3,000,000 architectural drawings, plans and maps
- 425,000 works of art
- 550,000 music items
- 90,000 films
|
|
|
[29]
|
| Cape Verde
|
Arquivo Histórico Nacional
|
Praia
|
1988
|
|
|
|
|
| Catalonia
|
National Archive of Catalonia
|
Sant Cugat del Vallès
|
1980
|
|
|
|
[30]
|
| Cayman Islands
|
Cayman Islands National Archive
|
George Town, Cayman Islands
|
1991
|
|
|
|
[31]
|
| Chad
|
Archives Nationales du Tchad
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Chile
|
National Archives of Chile
|
Santiago
|
1927
|
|
|
|
[32]
|
| China
|
National Archives Administration of China (a.k.a. the Central Archives)
|
Beijing
|
1954
|
|
|
|
[33]
|
| Colombia
|
General Archive of the Nation
|
Bogotá
|
1989
|
|
|
|
[34]
|
| Comoros
|
Comoros National Library
|
Moroni, Comoros
|
1979
|
|
|
|
|
| Republic of the Congo
|
Archives Nationales du Congo
|
Brazzaville
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cook Islands
|
National Archives of the Cook Islands
|
|
1974
|
|
|
|
[35]
|
| Costa Rica
|
National Archives of Costa Rica
|
San José
|
1881
|
|
|
|
[36]
|
| Croatia
|
Croatian State Archives
|
Zagreb
|
1763
|
|
|
|
[37]
|
| Cuba
|
Archivo Nacional de la República de Cuba
|
Havana
|
1840
|
|
|
|
[38]
|
| Curacao
|
Nationaal Archief Curacao
|
Willemstad
|
|
|
|
|
[39]
|
| Cyprus
|
Cyprus State Archives
|
Nicosia
|
1972
|
|
|
|
[40]
|
| Czech Republic
|
National Archives
|
Prague
|
|
|
|
|
[41]
|
D
E
F
G
| Country
|
Archive
|
Location
|
Year
|
Collection size
|
Notable artifacts
|
Image
|
Website
|
| Gabon
|
Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Gabon
|
Libreville
|
1969
|
|
|
|
|
| Gambia
|
The Gambia National Records Service
|
Banjul
|
1966
|
|
- Audio recordings and oral histories in various Mande, Niger–Congo and Atlantic–Congo languages - including Mandinka, Fula, Wolof, Jola, Krio, Soninke, Manjak, Serer and Karoninka.[1]
- Pre-colonial and rare colonial texts containing documentation, data, social histories, women's histories and plant knowledge
|
|
|
| Georgia
|
National Archives of Georgia
|
Tbilisi
|
1920
|
|
|
|
[55]
|
| Germany
|
German Federal Archives
|
Koblenz
|
1952
|
|
|
|
[56]
|
| Ghana
|
National Archives of Ghana (until 1997)
|
Accra
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Public Records and Archives Administration Department
|
|
1997
|
|
|
|
[57]
|
| Gibraltar
|
Gibraltar Archives
|
Gibraltar
|
1969
|
|
|
|
[58]
|
| Greece
|
General State Archives
|
Psychiko
|
1914
|
|
|
|
[59]
|
| Greenland
|
Greenland National Museum
|
Nuuk
|
1982
|
|
|
|
[60]
|
| Grenada
|
Grenada National Museum
|
St. George's
|
1959
|
|
- Grenada Plantation Records, 1737-1845
|
|
[61]
|
| Guam
|
Guam Museum
|
Hagåtña
|
1980
|
|
|
|
[62]
|
| Guatemala
|
Archivo General de Centro América
|
Guatemala City
|
1846
|
- Documents dating from 1537 onwards - relating to government, commerce, colonialism, revolutions, religion and more
|
|
|
[63]
|
| Guatemala National Police Archives
|
Discovered in 2005
|
- 80 million pages of documents from, dating from the late 19th-century through the Guatemalan Civil War
|
- Largest recovered collection of state secrets in Latin America
- Documents detailing kidnappings, torture, murders, and disappearances of the estimated 200,000 civilians who perished during the Guatemalan Civil War
|
|
|
| Guinea
|
National Archives of Guinea
|
Conakry
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Guinea-Bissau
|
Arquivos Históricos Nacionais da República da Guiné-Bissau
|
Bissau
|
1984
|
|
|
|
[64]
|
| Guyana
|
National Archives of Guyana (a.k.a. the Walter Rodney Archives)
|
Georgetown, Guyana
|
1958
|
|
|
|
|
H
I
| Country
|
Archive
|
Location
|
Year
|
Collection size
|
Notable artifacts
|
Image
|
Website
|
| Iceland
|
National Archives of Iceland
|
Reykjavík
|
1882
|
|
|
|
[69]
|
| India
|
National Archives of India
|
New Delhi
|
1891
|
|
|
|
[70]
|
| Indonesia
|
National Archives of Indonesia
|
Jakarta
|
1819
|
|
|
|
[71]
|
| Iran
|
National Library and Archive of Iran
|
Tehran
|
1899
|
- 55,000 old books, including 28,158 manuscripts and more than 26,000 lithographs featuring old lead printing
- An Iranian Studies collection that includes 80,410 books, 2,300 dissertations and 6000 journals
- An Islam Studies collection with 8,203,238 books, magazines and tapes
- The library has 14 halls with 15 million library items
|
- Smallest known octagonal Quran (3 x 3.3 cm), قرآن هشت ضلعی
|
|
[72]
|
| Iraq
|
Iraq National Library and Archive
|
Baghdad
|
1920
|
|
|
|
[73]
|
| Ireland
|
National Archives of Ireland
|
Dublin
|
1867
|
|
- Primary (Griffith) Valuation, 1847-1864 land and buildings value directory
|
|
[74]
|
| Isle of Man
|
Manx Museum
|
Douglas, Isle of Man
|
1922
|
|
|
|
[75]
|
| Israel
|
Israel State Archives
|
Jerusalem
|
1949
|
- 400 million documents, maps, stamps, audio tapes, video clips, photographs and special publications
|
|
|
[76]
|
| Central Zionist Archives
|
West Jerusalem
|
1919
|
|
|
|
[77]
|
| Italy
|
Central Archives of the State
|
Rome
|
1875
|
|
|
|
[78]
|
| Ivory Coast
|
Archives Nationales du Côte d´Ivoire
|
Abidjan
|
|
|
|
|
|
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
| Country
|
Archive
|
Location
|
Year
|
Collection size
|
Notable artifacts
|
Image
|
Website
|
| Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
|
Saharawi National Archive
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| San Marino
|
State Archives of San Marino
|
|
|
|
|
|
[121]
|
| Scotland
|
National Archives of Scotland
|
Edinburgh
|
|
|
|
|
[122]
|
| Senegal
|
National Archives of Senegal
|
Dakar
|
|
|
|
|
[123]
|
| Serbia
|
State Archives of Serbia
|
Belgrade
|
1900
|
|
|
|
[124]
|
| Seychelles
|
Seychelles National Archives
|
Mahé, Seychelles
|
1964
|
|
|
|
[125]
|
| Singapore
|
National Archives of Singapore
|
|
|
|
|
|
[126]
|
| Slovakia
|
Slovak National Archives
|
Bratislava
|
1928
|
|
|
|
[127]
|
| Slovenia
|
Archives of the Republic of Slovenia
|
Ljubljana
|
|
|
|
|
[128]
|
| South Africa
|
National Archives and Records Service of South Africa
|
Arcadia, Pretoria
|
|
|
|
|
[129]
|
| South Korea
|
National Archives of Korea
|
Daejeon
|
|
|
|
|
[130]
|
| South Sudan
|
National Archives of South Sudan
|
Juba
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Spain
|
Archivo Histórico Nacional
|
Madrid
|
1866
|
|
|
|
[131]
|
| General Archive of the Indies
|
Seville
|
|
- 43,000 volumes
- 80,000,000 pages
|
|
|
[132]
|
| Archivo General de Simancas
|
Simancas
|
1540
|
|
|
|
[133]
|
| Sri Lanka
|
Department of National Archives
|
Colombo
|
|
|
|
|
[134]
|
| Sudan
|
National Records Office of Sudan
|
Khartoum
|
|
- 13,000 volumes
- 20,000,000 documents
|
|
|
[135]
|
| Suriname
|
National Archives of Suriname
|
Paramaribo
|
|
|
|
|
[136]
|
| Sweden
|
National Archives of Sweden
|
Stockholm
|
|
|
|
|
[137]
|
| Switzerland
|
Swiss Federal Archives
|
Bern
|
1798
|
|
|
|
[138]
|
| Swiss Literary Archives
|
1991
|
|
|
|
[139]
|
| Swiss Film Archive
|
Lausanne
|
|
- 85,000 films
- 26,000 books
- 3,000,000 photographs
|
|
|
[140]
|
| Swiss National Sound Archives
|
Lugano
|
1984
|
|
|
|
[141]
|
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Y
Z
See also
References
External links