What is the highest volcano on Earth by elevation?

Nevado Ojos del Salado is the highest volcano on Earth by elevation. This dormant volcanic complex rises to approximately 6,893 metres above sea level on the border between Chile and Argentina in the Andes.

Ojos del Salado is not a single, perfectly symmetrical cone. It is a complex volcano made from overlapping lava domes, lava flows, craters, and smaller volcanic structures. Its extremely dry setting near the Atacama Desert limits snow and ice, although a permanent crater lake lies at about 6,480 metres—one of the highest lakes of any kind on Earth.

The phrase “by elevation” matters. Mauna Loa is taller when measured from its base on the ocean floor, but Ojos del Salado’s summit is higher above sea level. It is also often confused with Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres, but Aconcagua is not a volcano. Polish climbers Jan Alfred Szczepański and Justyn Wojsznis made the first recorded ascent in 1937.