Where is Mount Everest?
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and the Tibet region of China. At 8,849 meters, it is the highest mountain above sea level on Earth.
The summit lies on the border, so climbers can approach from Nepal on the south side or from Tibet on the north side. The southern route, via the Khumbu Icefall, is the most popular. In Nepali, Everest is called Sagarmatha, and in Tibetan, Chomolungma, often translated as Goddess Mother of the World.
Its official height of 8,848.86 meters was announced jointly by Nepal and China in 2020 after new surveys. The mountain was named after Sir George Everest, a British surveyor general of India, in 1865, although he never saw it.
Climbing Everest
Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa from Nepal, made the first confirmed ascent on May 29, 1953. Today, hundreds of people reach the summit each year, mostly in May. The climb is dangerous because of altitude sickness, extreme cold, avalanches and crowding.
Did You Know?
Everest is still growing by a few millimeters per year as the Indian tectonic plate pushes into the Eurasian plate.