Highest Mountain in the World: Mount Everest Facts
What is the highest mountain in the world? Mount Everest's exact height, where it is, who climbed it first, the 10 highest peaks, and the one taller from base.
Ask any student to name the highest mountain in the world and they’ll answer straight away: Everest. But how high is it exactly? Where is it? And why do some scientists say another mountain is “taller”? This guide brings together the key facts about the roof of the world, plus the 10 highest peaks and the tallest mountain in the Arab world.
What is the highest mountain in the world?
The highest mountain above sea level is Mount Everest, at 8,848.86 metres (29,031.7 feet). Nepal and China announced this figure jointly in December 2020 after new surveys, replacing the long-quoted 8,848 metres.
Its summit is covered in snow all year round, and the air there is very thin: about a third of the oxygen available at sea level. That’s why most climbers use bottled oxygen.
Where is Mount Everest?
Everest is in the Himalayas in Asia, on the border between Nepal and the Tibet region of China. The border runs right across its summit.
- Nepali name: Sagarmatha.
- Tibetan name: Chomolungma.
- English name: given in the 19th century after George Everest, a former British Surveyor General of India.
Who first climbed Mount Everest?
The first confirmed ascent was by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953, as part of a British expedition. Thousands of climbers have reached the top since, but it remains dangerous because of extreme cold, low oxygen and avalanches.
Did you know? The Himalayas are still rising slowly, because the Indian tectonic plate keeps pushing into the Asian plate, as it has for millions of years. That slow-motion collision is what built the Himalayas in the first place.
The 10 highest mountains in the world
All ten are in Asia, in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges:
| Rank | Mountain | Approx. height (m) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everest | 8,849 | Nepal / China |
| 2 | K2 | 8,611 | Pakistan / China |
| 3 | Kangchenjunga | 8,586 | Nepal / India |
| 4 | Lhotse | 8,516 | Nepal / China |
| 5 | Makalu | 8,485 | Nepal / China |
| 6 | Cho Oyu | 8,188 | Nepal / China |
| 7 | Dhaulagiri | 8,167 | Nepal |
| 8 | Manaslu | 8,163 | Nepal |
| 9 | Nanga Parbat | 8,126 | Pakistan |
| 10 | Annapurna | 8,091 | Nepal |
K2 is widely considered harder and more dangerous to climb than Everest, even though it’s lower.
Is any mountain taller than Everest?
It depends how you measure:
- From sea level: Everest is the undisputed highest.
- From base to peak: Mauna Kea in Hawaii starts on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and is over 10,000 metres tall in total, but most of it is underwater and only about 4,200 metres rises above sea level.
- Farthest from Earth’s centre: the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador, because the Earth bulges slightly at the equator.
At the opposite extreme, the lowest point on land is on the shores of the Dead Sea.
What is the highest mountain in the Arab world?
The highest peak in the Arab world is Mount Toubkal in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, at about 4,167 metres. Other well-known Arab peaks include Mount Hermon on the Lebanon–Syria border and Jabal an-Nabi Shu’ayb in Yemen, the highest point on the Arabian Peninsula at about 3,666 metres.
Frequently asked questions
In which country is the highest mountain in the world?
Everest sits on the border of two countries: Nepal and China (the Tibet region).
What was the highest mountain before Everest was discovered?
Before the British survey measured Everest in the 1850s, Kangchenjunga was thought to be the world’s highest mountain.
How long does it take to climb Mount Everest?
Commercial expeditions usually take about two months, because climbers need weeks to acclimatise to the altitude before a summit attempt.
What is the highest mountain in the world underwater?
Mauna Kea, measured from its base on the ocean floor, is the tallest mountain on Earth, though most of it is hidden beneath the Pacific.
Key takeaway
The highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest, at 8,848.86 metres, on the Nepal–China border in the Himalayas. Hillary and Tenzing first reached its summit in 1953. Measured from base to peak, Hawaii’s Mauna Kea is taller, and the Arab world’s highest peak is Toubkal in Morocco.
