Actually, the 1998 "Official Museum Directory" lists the National Air and
Space Museum visitation as 8,000,000 (acurate).  The National Museum
of American History has 5,600,000 (estimated) and the National Museum
of Natural History says 5,270,000 (acuarate).  The listing for the
Smithsonian, which includes all their museums, says their attendance is
25,500,000!

>>> Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]> 10/07/98 06:46am
>>>
At 08:56 AM 10/7/98 -0400, you wrote:
>I have heard that the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC is among
the
most visited >museums in the world....

I think the Smithsonian's National Air & Space museum is the most visited
museum in the world.  It's certainly the most visited science museum in
the
world with approx. 6 million, that's right, 6 million visitors per year.
(And they all came to see Star Wars this year.  :)

Try calling VIARC, Visitor Information and Associates Reception Center at
the SI to get exact numbers and rankings for the Smithsonian.  Their
number
is 202-357-2700 I believe.  If that doesn't work try 202-287-2700 because
I
can never remember what SI prefix the phone # starts with.  They will
probably have a list of the ranks of other museums as well or can tell you
where to get them.

Deb

--------------------------------------------
Staples &  Charles Ltd.
225 N Fairfax St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
USA
703-683-0900 - voice
703-683-2820 - fax
[log in to unmask]