SCIENCE / GEOGRAPHY

List: Top Ten Highest Mountains in the World

Date: 2006

Source: Pringles Atlas

Base: All mountains in the world whose summits may be considered individual mountains as opposed to subsidiary peaks.

Notes: Nine out of the top ten tallest mountains in the world are located in the Himalayas, including the famous Mount Everest on the Tibetan and Nepalese border. Only K2 (sometimes referred to as Mount Godwin Austen), which is the second highest in the world, is not in the Himalayas being part of the Karakorum mountain range that spans Pakistan and China. Kangchenjunga (ranked 3) translated means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres. The treasures represent the five repositories of god, which are gold, silver, gems, grain, and holy books. Nanga Parbat (ranked 9 - also known as Nangaparbat Peak or Diamir) means "Naked Mountain" in Urdu / Hindi.

Notes on measurement: By convention, mountains are always measured above sea level. However, the world's tallest mountains could include those from the sea bed itself, for example Mauna Kea - rising about 33,500 feet (10,200 metres) from the Pacific Floor, is the world's tallest mountain island.

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