What Are the World's Tallest Mountains?

Determining the world's tallest mountains seems simple, but the answer can vary, depending on how the mountains are measured. Traditionally, the world's tallest mountains were determined as measured from sea level. By this definition, there are about 450 mountain peaks over 7,000 meters, and (430 peaks over 23,000 feet) tall. Most of these are located in the following mountain ranges: Himalaya, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush, Hengduan, Pamir, Tanggula, Nyain'a. All of these ranges are in Asia, specifically in Nepal, China, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

In fact, when measured by sea level, the tallest mountain peak outside of Asia is Aconcagua in Argentina that is 6,959 meters (22,831 feet). That puts it at about 485th of the world's tallest mountains.

There are other ways of measuring mountains, however. Many islands are in fact undersea mountains, with just their tops poking out of the water. By this measure, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest, at over 10,000 meters (32,808 feet). Measuring from the center of the planet gives yet a different result, with Ecuador's Chimborazo the tallest. This mountain is 6,384 kilometers (3,967 miles) from the Earth's core.

Here is a list of the ten highest peaks in the world, as measured from sea level. As you can see, eight of them are in or partially in Nepal:

To put some of the giants listed above into perspective with the tallest mountains on each continent the world, take a look at the following chart:

Peak	Continent	Country	Height
Everest	Asia	China, Nepal
Aconcagua	South America	Argentina, Chile
McKinley	North America	U.S. (Alaska)
Kilimanjaro	Africa	Tanzania
Elbrus	Europe	Georgia
Vinson Massif	Antarctica	-
Mount Cook	Australasia	New Zealand

Here is a chart comparing the height of Mount Everest with other well-known mountains in the world:

Peak	Country	Height
Everest	Nepal, China
Dhaulagiri	Nepal
Annapurna	Nepal
Popocatepetl	Mexico
Blanc	France
Matterhorn	Switzerland, Italy
Rainier	U.S. (Washington)
Fuji	Japan