What is the tallest mountain in the world?
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet). It stands on the border of Nepal and China in the Himalayas.
Everest's official height of 8,848.86 meters was announced jointly by Nepal and China in 2020 after new surveys. The mountain is still rising by a few millimeters each year as the Indian tectonic plate pushes into Asia.
In Nepal, Everest is called Sagarmatha, and in Tibet it is called Chomolungma. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent on May 29, 1953. Today hundreds of climbers reach the summit in a good year, mostly in May.
It depends how you measure
Measured from base to peak, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller. Most of it is under the sea, but from its base on the ocean floor it rises more than 10,000 meters. And because the Earth bulges at the equator, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is the point on land farthest from the center of the Earth. Above sea level, though, Everest is the clear record holder.
Did You Know?
Everest is not the hardest mountain to climb. K2, the second-highest peak at 8,611 meters on the border of Pakistan and China, is steeper, colder and more dangerous, and far fewer people have reached its summit.