Which mountain is the third-highest on Earth?

Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain on Earth.

Kangchenjunga rises to 8,586 metres in the Himalayas, behind Mount Everest and K2. Its massif straddles the border between Nepal and India’s Sikkim state, with several major summits and ridges spread across the Kangchenjunga Himal. The name is often translated as “The Five Treasures of Snow,” referring to the massif’s five principal peaks.

For much of the 19th century, surveyors believed Kangchenjunga was the world’s highest mountain. Measurements from the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established that Peak XV—later named Everest—was higher; the ranking was officially announced in 1856.

Kangchenjunga is sacred to communities in Nepal and Sikkim. The first successful ascent, by Joe Brown and George Band on 25 May 1955, stopped just short of the true summit out of respect for a local religious promise. It is not the same mountain as Lhotse, Makalu, or Cho Oyu, all of which are also Himalayan eight-thousanders but rank lower.