- The starting point for the creation of the National Museum of Ethnology was a set of pieces collected by Jorge Dias in 1959 for the exhibition Life and Art of the Maconde People, as part of the Missions to Study the Ethnic Minorities of Portuguese Overseas Territories.
- In 1965, the Museum was formally created under the name of Museu de Etnologia do Ultramar. In 1974, it was renamed the Museum of Ethnology and, the following year, it moved to its current location in a building constructed from scratch.
- Its collection of approximately 30,000 objects includes a systematic collection of agricultural implements. Since this museum does not have a permanent exhibition, its activity is characterized by the presentation of exhibitions of varying duration, with multiple themes, covering areas traditionally dealt with by anthropological sciences (“peoples and cultures”, etc.), but also more “topical” themes or more particular contexts, such as fado.
