What Are the World's Tallest Mountains?

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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:

Name Country Continent Meters Feet
Mount Everest China, Nepal Asia 8,850 29,035
K2 China, Pakistan Asia 8,611 28,251
Kangchenjunga India, Nepal Asia 8,586 28,169
Lhotse China, Nepal Asia 8,516 27,940
Makalu China, Nepal Asia 8,485 27,838
Kangchenjunga South India, Nepal Asia 8,76 27,808
Lhotse Middle Nepal Asia 8,430 27,657
Kangchenjunga West Nepal Asia 8,420 27,25
Lhotse Shar Nepal Asia 8,400 27,559
Cho Oyu China, Nepal Asia 8,201 26,906

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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20
Carstensz Pyramid(4884 meters) is now considered the summit of Australasia. Australasia is sometimes called Oceana. If every land mass is to be assigned to some continent, then Indonesia should be part of Oceania (Australasia). It is true that it is an island but so is New Zealand.
- anon46032
19
If you want to consider the base of the mountain as the standard to measure, then Sagarmatha (mt_everest) base can be still considered to be same as base of Mauna Kea with all other "peaks" from that base as intermediate points towards Sagarmatha!
- anon42739
17
If a man, measuring 4 feet in height stands on a 4 foot tall stool, is he taller than a man measuring 6 feet? No, he simply is higher than him. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain, and Everest is the highest.
- anon32741
16
Seriously guys. It all depends on which measure we are based upon. If we do measure mountains the way we measure humans, then no doubt, Mauna Kea is the tallest and Everest would be out of the league.
- anon30095
15
Unless climbers start at the seafloor, I don't see how Mauna Kea's 20,000 feet are relevant. :P

Does anyone know what the longest 'climb' is? In other words, what mountain provides the longest distance between the "trail-head" (i.e. point at which you get out of the car/truck/helicopter/plane/dog-sled) and the summit?

Both as-the-bird-flies and "trail"-length would be interesting to know.

Thanks, CL

- anon29822
14
Let’s keep to the facts. The term tall stands for the vertical size of something. Everest has a base of around 15,000 feet above sea level, so it cannot be considered even close to being the tallest mountain in the world. It is clearly the highest peak or point on Earth. Denali (McKinley) in Alaska only reaches 6194 meters above sea level, but the base is about 1000 feet above sea level and is considered taller than Everest. There may be other mountains above sea level that are taller than Everest. Mauna Kea of Hawaii still has the record using below and above sea level measurement for a single mountain. Above sea level it is Denali (McKinley) of Alaska.
- Fact
12
Now everybody knows Everest is tallest mountain!

- nepal123
10
Mauna Kea is not the tallest mountain. Mountains should be measured from height above sea level. Therefore Everest is the tallest mountain. If you really want to get technical and say that Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain, you are still wrong. There is a mountain in Guam that is more than 37,000 feet to its base. That is because its base is in the Marianas Trench. So Mauna Kea is not the tallest Mountain, deal with it.
- anon21449
9
Anon7004 - perhaps according to your definition, Mauna Kea is not a mountain but according to record books, geology.com and most geologists, it is a mountain. Perhaps you are more of an expert than they are....
- anon19544
8
We regard Everest as the tallest because when you stand on the top of it, no object on Earth is higher than you. I don't care that Mauna Kea is taller if you measure from the base. If you stand on top of it you are quite simply not very high up at all.
- anon18804
6
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.
- anon12615
5
Mauna Kea is considered a dormant not extinct volcano. Though it hasn't erupted in 3600 years.
- mountnmn
4
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.
- anon7004
3
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?
- anon6863
2
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!

- Dayton
1
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.
- anon2704

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