What is the officially recognized elevation of Mount Everest?

The officially recognized elevation of Mount Everest is 8,848.86 metres.

Nepal and China jointly announced this figure in 2020 after new surveys measured the mountain using modern satellite positioning, gravimetric observations, and other techniques. The measurement includes the summit’s snow and ice cap, which can change over time. Earlier widely cited figures included 8,848 metres from a 1954 Indian survey and 8,850 metres from a 1999 American survey.

Mount Everest stands in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Its Nepali name is Sagarmatha, while its Tibetan name is Chomolungma. The English name honors George Everest, the former Surveyor General of India, even though he did not personally survey the summit.

Everest is the highest mountain above sea level, but it is not Earth’s tallest mountain from base to summit. Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller when measured from its underwater base, and Chimborazo’s summit is farthest from Earth’s centre because of the planet’s equatorial bulge.