The Tallest Mountains in the World (and the Seven Summits)

"Height above sea level" is the usual measure, and by that standard the giants are all clustered in the Himalaya and the neighbouring Karakoram, along the borders of Nepal, China, Pakistan and India.

The five highest

1. Everest — 8,849 m. On the Nepal–China (Tibet) border. First climbed in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
2. K2 — 8,611 m. On the Pakistan–China border in the Karakoram; far more technically difficult and dangerous than Everest, with a much higher fatality rate.
3. Kangchenjunga — 8,586 m. On the Nepal–India border; the highest mountain in India.
4. Lhotse — 8,516 m. On the Nepal–China border, connected to Everest by the South Col.
5. Makalu — 8,485 m. Nepal–China border, about 19 km southeast of Everest.

There are fourteen peaks over 8,000 m in total (the "eight-thousanders"), all in Nepal, China, Pakistan and India. Climbing all fourteen is one of mountaineering's ultimate goals.

The Seven Summits

• Asia — Everest, 8,849 m (Nepal/China)
• South America — Aconcagua, 6,961 m (Argentina); the highest mountain outside Asia
• North America — Denali, 6,190 m (United States, Alaska); has the greatest base-to-summit rise of any mountain on land
• Africa — Kilimanjaro, 5,895 m (Tanzania); a free-standing volcano, not part of a range, and climbable without technical mountaineering
• Europe — Elbrus, 5,642 m (Russia, in the Caucasus); Mont Blanc, 4,806 m, is the highest in the Alps and the answer if the Caucasus is excluded from Europe
• Antarctica — Vinson Massif, 4,892 m
• Oceania — Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid), 4,884 m (Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea); or Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 m (mainland Australia), depending on the definition used

Two mountains that beat Everest by a different measure

Everest is the highest point above sea level, but not the tallest mountain by every definition. Measured from base to summit, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller — over 10,000 m, though more than half of it is below the ocean surface. And measured from the centre of the Earth, Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador wins, because the planet bulges at the equator, so Chimborazo's summit sits farther from the core than Everest's does.