What are the World's Tallest Mountains?

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There are about 450 mountain peaks over 7000 meters (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, the tallest mountain peak outside of Asia is Aconcagua in Argentina that is 6959 meters (22,831 feet). That puts it at about 485th of the world's tallest peaks.

Here is a list of the ten highest peaks in the world, and as you can see 8 of them are in or partially in Nepal:

name country continent meters feet
Mount Everest China, Nepal Asia 8850 29035
K2 China, Pakistan Asia 8611 28251
Kangchenjunga India, Nepal Asia 8586 28169
Lhotse China, Nepal Asia 8516 27940
Makalu China, Nepal Asia 8485 27838
Kangchenjunga South India, Nepal Asia 8476 27808
Lhotse Middle Nepal Asia 8430 27657
Kangchenjunga West Nepal Asia 8420 27625
Lhotse Shar Nepal Asia 8400 27559
Cho Oyu China, Nepal Asia 8201 26906

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

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

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

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New: Discuss this Article

Posted by: anon12615
There are many ways to measure mountains. Base to summit is the best in my opinion. Everest has the highest elevation, but many mountains have greater vertical relief (elevation gain from base to summit) and would appear taller to the naked eye.
Posted by: mountnmn
Mauna Kea is considered a dormant not extinct volcano. Though it hasn't erupted in 3600 years.
Posted by: anon7004
Mt Everest is still growing* (*well, getting bigger because mountains don't grow like us but i will use that term for now) because india is pushing into nepal and china and other asian countries, which is why many earthquakes happen around that area, also to note the Alps in Europe are young mountains because they to are also still growing* and the mountains in Scotland such as Ben nevis are very old mountains. they used to be bigger than Mt Everest they have only eroded over millions of years. mauna kea by definition isn't a mountain it is a volcano as it is not created by two continental plates pushing together creating fold mountain also note the volcano is extinct.
Posted by: anon6863
what ever happened to mention of slightly taller peak nearby mt Everest? i used to hear about it ten years ago or so but not anymore. was this disproved via modern technologies?
Posted by: Dayton
Wow! That's so interesting! So, I did a bit of research, and here's what I've learned:

When measured from sea level, Everest is the tallest mountain. In fact, all the measurements in our article describe height above sea level.

However, if measured from the base of the mountain (where the base could be below sea level), Mauna Kea is the tallest--over 33,000 feet! Amazing that more than half the height of the mountain (20,000 feet) is actually under water!

Posted by: anon2704
This page keeps listing Everest as the tallest mountain in the world, yet it is not, not by over 4000 feet! The tallest mountain in the world is Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Please get that right, as you are doing a disservice by posting incorrect information. Everest is merely the highest mountain and the second tallest.

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