World's Highest Mountains

Everyone knows which is the tallest mountain in the world, it is Mount Everest. Yes, Mount Everest is indisputably the tallest mountain in the world. Every mountaineer wants to get at the top of it to mark history and achieve the feat of climbing the tallest mountain of the world. Well, I am sure that it is not as simple as it looks. Its might can only be felt when you are there and feel it.

List of the World's Highest Mountains

Mentioned below is a list of world's highest mountains by continent and by country.

Mount Everest (Asia)
Mount Everest stands at a height of approx. 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) above sea level. It is in the Himalayas in Nepal in Asia. Mount Everest was first climbed by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay who was a Nepali Sherpa in the year 1953. It was a great feat achieved by both of them as in those days there weren't many advanced equipment which are available today for scaling mountains of that height. It is a dream of every mountaineer to reach atop this mighty mountain and experience how it feels to be at the top of the world's highest mountain.

K2 (Asia)
K2 has the reputation of being the second highest mountain in the world. K2 stands approx. 8,611 meters (28,251 ft) tall and it lies in the Karakoram range. It is also the second mountain with highest fatality rate after Annapurna which has got the highest fatality rate. It is one of the most difficult mountains to climb. K2 can be a real challenge. There have been many unsuccessful attempts to scale this mountain in the past. Climbing the mountain is dreaded because of its irregular surface and deadly weather at high altitudes.

Kangchenjunga (Asia)
Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain on Earth. Its height is approx. 8,586 meters (28,169 ft). It is a series of five peaks out of which four are over 8,400 meters. It is located at the border of India and Nepal. The view of Kangchenjunga acts as a great attraction for tourists and that is because the peak at early morning looks like huge golden rocks because of the early sun falling on them. Because of its remote location the mountain is not much hiked by mountaineers.

Aconcagua (South America)
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in South America. It is located in the Andes range in Argentina. It stands approx. 6,962 meters (22841 ft). It is not as picturesque as other tall mountains, but then it has its own beauty in looking like a huge piece of rock.

Mount McKinley (North America)
Mount McKinley is the tallest mountain in North America. It is huge and can be seen almost 150 miles away! It looks like a huge mass of snow. It stands approx. 6194 (20320 ft) tall. Mountaineers find the climb on this mountain relatively simpler except for its weather. The weather here can be very harsh and hence makes the climb extremely challenging.

Kilimanjaro (Africa)
Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in the continent of Africa and is located in Tanzania near Kenya border. Kilimanjaro is actually a huge and massive extinct volcano. Its height is approx. 5895 meters (19340 ft). A climb to this mountain will let you see thick bushes and rocky plains and as you move further you will experience its snow clad top and Tundra-like atmosphere.

Mount Elbrus (Europe)
In Europe, Mount Elbrus is the tallest peak. It is approx. 5642 meters (18510 ft) high. It is believed that it was originally a volcanic mountain which is now extinct. It is snowy all round the year. You can witness numerous glaciers coming down its slopes.

Vinson Massif (Antarctica)
Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica. Its height is approx. 4897 meters (16066 ft). The mountain is massive. It is stretches almost thirteen miles in length and eight miles in width. The weather makes ascent to this mountain difficult.

Mount Kosciuszko (Australia)
In Australia, the tallest mountain is Mount Kosciuszko. It stands approx. 2228 meters (7310 ft) tall. It is located in the Australian Alps region. It has got a rocky terrain and receives moderate rainfall and snow during winters.

The geographical distribution of world's highest mountain peaks is such that most of them are found in the Himalayan and the Karakoram ranges around Nepal and neighboring countries. As a matter of fact, almost all of these mountains which are more than 7000 meters (23,000 ft) are found in these areas of Central or Southeast Asia. They are also known as 'eight-thousanders' which is the name given to fourteen mountains which are 8000 meters above sea level.