Mount Everest’s jointly announced official elevation is 8,848.86 metres above sea level.
Nepal and China announced this figure in December 2020 after conducting coordinated surveying and measurements. The number includes the mountain’s snow and ice summit, rather than treating the underlying rock as the only relevant surface. Earlier widely used measurements differed by small amounts because survey methods, reference systems, and assumptions about summit snow varied.
Everest is part of the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China. Its Nepali name is Sagarmatha, while its Tibetan name is Chomolungma. The mountain’s geological height reflects the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which continues to raise the Himalayas.
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent in 1953. Extreme altitude, unpredictable weather, avalanches, and the risk of altitude sickness make the upper mountain dangerous even for highly experienced climbers.