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Tallest Mountains in the World
- May 23, 2023
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Learn About the 15 Tallest Mountains Around the World
These massive mountains were formed by volcanic explosions, tectonic faults, and collisions, some of which may have started reshaping the Earth’s surface over 3.75 billion years ago. The following giant formations are considered the tallest mountains in the world (measured from sea level to their summit). Let’s take a look at these stunning wonders and learn more about their height, altitude, and location.
1. Mount Everest
Country: Nepal and Tibet
Height: 8,848 meters (29,032 feet)
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, making that a good reason for climbers to spend years training to tackle this high peak. The world’s tallest mountain also goes by the Tibetan name “Chomolungma” and the Nepalese name “Sagarmatha.” It sits on the border between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China. The Nepalese and Chinese governments issue anywhere from 300 to 800 permits to climb the giant each year.
2. K2
Country: Pakistan and China
Height: 8611 meters (28,251 feet)
K2 is the second tallest mountain in the world, making it one of the toughest to climb. Located along the Pakistan-China border, many mountaineers consider K2 to be a more difficult climb than Everest, as it has less support via fixed ropes and routes, more unpredictable weather, and is considerably steeper. Due to its challenging nature, as of 2018, a mere 367 people had climbed K2, compared to Everest’s 4,000.
3. Kanchenjunga
Country: Nepal and India
Height: 8,586 meters (28,169 feet)
Kanchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. It is situated in the eastern Himalayas on the border between Sikkim state, northeastern India, and eastern Nepal, 46 miles (74 km) north-northwest of Darjeeling, Sikkim. The Mountain is part of the Great Himalayan Range and is recognized by the Kanchenjunga massif, which is in the form of a gigantic cross, the arms of which extend in each direction.
4. Lhotse
Country: Nepal and Tibet
Height: 8,516 meters (27, 940 feet)
Lhotse, found on the border of Nepal and Tibet, is separated from Everest by just under two miles, though only 575 climbers reached the 27,940-foot peak between 1955 and 2019. In 2011, an American guide, called Michael Horst, became the first to summit both Everest and Lhotse within the same 24-hour period.
Lhotse has gained more and more popularity because it has fewer crowds; it’s less expensive, and climbers like that it follows the same route as Everest for the beginning portion of the climb.
5. Makalu
Country: Nepal and Tibet
Height: 8,485 meters (27,838 feet)
Makalu is the fifth tallest reaching mountain in the world. Its remote, four-sided peak makes Makalu one of the world’s most difficult mountains to climb. It offers sharp edges and an isolated position that’s exposed to the severities of the elements. As a result, only five of the first 16 climbing attempts proved successful, and even now, only 206 trekkers have made successful ascents.
6. Cho Oyu
Country: China and Nepal
Height: 8,188 meters (26,864 feet)
The sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu, lies in the heart of the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas and offers climbers views of Everest and Lhotse. Climbers tend to use this mountain as a stepping stone to train for an Everest trek or to see how their body reacts to the high altitude. That’s not to say scaling this massive mountain isn’t dangerous; Cho Oyu has claimed the lives of at least 52 people since 1952.
7. Dhaulagiri
Country: Nepal
Height: 8,167 meters (26,795 feet)
Dhaulagiri is located in west-central Nepal, about 50 miles from Kathmandu. It is the seventh tallest mountain on Earth, often referred to as the White Mountain. Similar to Everest, the summit of Dhaulagiri is composed of limestone and dolomite rock layers that originally formed at the bottom of the ocean hundreds of millions of years ago and were pushed up by powerful tectonic forces.
8. Manaslu
Country: Nepal
Height: 8,163 meters (26,781 feet)
Mount Manaslu is the world’s eighth-highest mountain, reaching a lofty 26,781 feet. It’s located 40 miles east of Annapurna and dominates the Gurkha massif. In 1974, an all-female team from Japan became the first women to successfully summit an 8,000-meter peak when they reached the top of Manaslu.
9. Nanga Parbat
Country: Pakistan
Height: 8,126 meters (26,660 feet)
Nanga Parbat is located in the northern areas of Pakistan and is the western bastion of the Himalayas. It is the ninth-highest mountain in the world. Nanga Parbat earned its reputation as the “Killer Mountain” after a total of 26 people died attempting to reach the summit before its first ascent in 1953 (a feat completed by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, who performed the climb without the use of supplementary oxygen).
10. Annapurna
Country: Nepal
Height: 8,091 meters (26, 545 feet)
Annapurna is the world’s 10th-highest peak. Although climbers had reached 28,150 feet on Mount Everest by 1924, Annapurna I became famous in 1950 as the first peak above 26,000 feet to be ascended to the summit.
Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal were the first to reach the summit (losing their toes and fingers to frostbite as a result), marking the first of the Earth’s 14 eight-thousanders to be scaled; another successful climb wasn’t achieved for 20 years.
11. Gasherbrum I
Country: China and Pakistani
Height: 8,080 meters (26,509 feet)
Gasherbrum I is also known as K5 and Hidden Peak, a name given by William Martin Conway in 1892 in reference to its extreme remoteness. It is also the 11th-highest peak in the world and the second-highest in the Karakoram Range.
Gasherbrum I is one of the four 8,000-meter peaks located in a tight cluster on the upper reaches of the Baltoro glacier, the main access route to the mountains, and cuts through the center of the Karakoram Range.
12. Broad Peak
Country: China and Pakistani
Height: 8,051 meters (26,414 feet)
This giant is called Broad Peak because of its breadth at the top. It has also been called the Enormous Tripe-Headed Breithorn of the Baltoro.
Within the climbing community, there has been debate as to whether Broad Peak’s central peak should be considered a separate mountain and be granted a spot as the world’s 15th eight-thousander. While scientific standards do not support the mountain’s classification at this time, geographers believe that climate change could alter the Karakoram mountain range so much that it could be a separate formation in the future.
13. Gasherbrum II
Country: China and Pakistani
Height: 8,025 meters (26,362 feet)
Along the same horseshoe-shaped ridge as Gasherbrum I (which is just 151 feet taller), Gasherbrum’s second-tallest peak is also the 13th-highest mountain on Earth. At 26,362 feet above sea level, Gasherbrum II has the second-lowest fatality rate of the world’s eight-thousanders, resulting in some pretty adventurous activities, including skiing, snowboarding, parachuting, and hang-gliding down from the summit.
14. Shishapangma
Country: Tibet
Height: 8,027 meters (26,335 feet)
ShishaPangma, also called Gosainthān, is the highest peak in the Langtang Himal and is located almost due north of Kathmandu, entirely on the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. It is located on the Tibetan side of the Himalayas and saw at least 302 successful ascents between 1964 and 2012.
Although it’s considered to be another one of the easiest and shortest of the 8000-meter mountains, Shishapangma claimed the life of one of the world’s most famous climbers, Alex Lowe, after an avalanche struck on October 5, 1999 (his body wasn’t recovered until 16 years later).
15. Gyachung Kang
Country: Nepal and China
Height: 8,027 meters (26,335 feet)
Gyachung Kang is a tall and beautiful mountain situated in the western Himalayas, on the border between Nepal and the People’s Republic of China. With an elevation of 26,089 feet, the mountain is considered the 15th-highest peak in the world.
Gyachung Kang is a part of the massif of the Himalayas called the Mahalangur Himal and is located near Mount Everest.
Is Mount Kilimanjaro one of the tallest mountains in the world?
Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa, with three volcanic cones, Shira, Kibo, and Mawenzi. The mountain is a dormant volcano in Tanzania with a summit of 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level. While Mt. Kilimanjaro is an imposing mountain, it doesn’t measure up to the Himalayans or other mountain ranges in Pakistan, China, Nepal, and other areas of Asia. Asia holds the record for the highest peak. Although over 200 mountains in the world are taller than Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro, it’s still incredibly impressive as the highest free-standing mountain; however, it is not considered one of the world’s tallest mountains.
Explore Mount Kilimanjaro
If you’re looking to conquer mountain tops and experience incredible adventures, join us on one of our Mount Kilimanjaro trekking trips! Our expert guides can help you achieve your goals while providing an experience of a lifetime. If you’d like to learn more, contact us today and we’ll help you get started!
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