What is the name of the tallest mountain above sea level, located in the Himalayas?

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level, rising 8,848.86 metres in the Himalayas.

Everest lies on the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Nepalese authorities call it Sagarmatha, while the Tibetan name is Chomolungma. The English name honours George Everest, a former Surveyor General of India, although he did not personally survey the mountain.

The mountain is part of the Mahalangur Himal sub-range and was formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. That collision continues, so the Himalayas remain geologically active. Surveying methods have produced slightly different historical elevations; Nepal and China announced the 8,848.86-metre figure in 2020.

K2 is sometimes called the world’s second-highest mountain, and it has a higher fatality rate for climbers, but it is not taller. Mauna Kea is taller when measured from its underwater base, yet Everest remains the highest point above sea level.