Mountains cover about a quarter of the land surface and supply fresh water to more than half of humanity. They are built by colliding plates, sculpted by ice and rivers, and still rising a few millimetres a year.
Play the Mountains quiz8,849 m
≈ 29,032 ft
Everest
14
Eight-thousanders
24%
Of land area
~50%
Of people's water
The eight-thousanders
Every peak above 8,000 m stands in the Himalaya or the Karakoram.
Mount Everest
Nepal / China · first climbed 1953 by Hillary and Tenzing
8,849 m
≈ 29,032 ft
K2
Pakistan / China · the hardest and deadliest of the fourteen
8,611 m
≈ 28,251 ft
Kangchenjunga
Nepal / India · sacred, with the true summit left unclimbed by custom
8,586 m
≈ 28,169 ft
Lhotse
Nepal / China · Everest's southern shoulder
8,516 m
≈ 27,940 ft
Makalu
Nepal / China · a sharp, isolated four-sided pyramid
8,485 m
≈ 27,838 ft
Cho Oyu
Nepal / China · considered the gentlest of the fourteen
8,188 m
≈ 26,864 ft
Dhaulagiri I
Nepal · rises 7,000 m (22,966 ft) straight out of the Kali Gandaki valley
8,167 m
≈ 26,795 ft
Manaslu
Nepal · 'mountain of the spirit'
8,163 m
≈ 26,781 ft
Nanga Parbat
Pakistan · the 'killer mountain', with a 7,000 m (22,966 ft) south face
8,126 m
≈ 26,660 ft
Annapurna I
Nepal · the first eight-thousander climbed, in 1950
8,091 m
≈ 26,545 ft
Gasherbrum I
Pakistan / China · also called K5 or Hidden Peak
8,080 m
≈ 26,509 ft
Broad Peak
Pakistan / China · a 1.5 km (0.93 mi)-long summit ridge
8,051 m
≈ 26,414 ft
Gasherbrum II
Pakistan / China · first climbed in 1956
8,035 m
≈ 26,362 ft
Shishapangma
China · the lowest and last eight-thousander to be climbed, in 1964
8,027 m
≈ 26,335 ft
The seven summits
The highest point on each continent.
Asia — Everest
8,849 m
≈ 29,032 ft
South America — Aconcagua
6,961 m
≈ 22,838 ft
North America — Denali
6,190 m
≈ 20,308 ft
Africa — Kilimanjaro
5,895 m
≈ 19,341 ft
Europe — Elbrus
5,642 m
≈ 18,510 ft
Antarctica — Vinson
4,892 m
≈ 16,050 ft
Oceania — Puncak Jaya
4,884 m
≈ 16,024 ft
Did you know?
- Measured from its base on the sea floor, Mauna Kea is 10,210 m (33,497 ft) tall — taller than Everest, though only 4,207 m (13,802 ft) shows above water.
- Chimborazo's summit in Ecuador is the point farthest from Earth's centre, because the planet bulges at the equator.
- Everest grows about 4 mm (0.16 in) a year as India pushes north into Asia — but erosion shaves it back almost as fast.
- Above about 8,000 m (26,247 ft) the air holds a third of the oxygen at sea level; climbers call it the 'death zone'.