How High Is Mount Everest? 8,849 m (29,032 ft)

Compared with things you know

About 27 times as high as Tokyo Tower (333 m)
About 2.3 times as high as Mount Fuji (3,776 m)
About 1.5 times as high as Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m)

Mount Everest 8,849 m
Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Mount Kilimanjaro 5,895 m

Drawn to scale: Mount Fuji, 3,776 m high · Mount Kilimanjaro, 5,895 m high · Mount Everest, 8,849 m high

Mount Everest dimensions

Measurement	Metric	Imperial	Source
Height above sea level	8,849 m	29,032 ft	^[1]^[2]
Topographic prominence	8,849 m	29,032 ft	^[3]

Published heights of Everest by survey^[1]^[2]

Survey of India, 1952–54	8.85 km (5.5 mi)Triangulation; 8,848 m was the figure used until 2020
China, 1975	8.85 km (5.5 mi)Snow height
China, 2005	8.84 km (5.5 mi)Highest rock, not snow and ice
Nepal and China joint survey, 2020	8.85 km (5.5 mi)Current official height, to the snow cap

How the height was measured

The official height of Mount Everest is 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft). Nepal and China announced it jointly on 8 December 2020, after a joint survey by Nepalese and Chinese authorities. Nepal had decided to remeasure partly because of speculation that the height may have changed after the 2015 earthquake. The figure is a snow height: it is measured to the highest point of permanent snow and ice on the summit. The highest rock point is roughly 8,844 m.^[1]^[2]

Why older sources say 8,848 m

The figure of 8,848 m was measured in 1954 by the Survey of India, according to the Himalayan Times. Wikipedia lists the Survey of India's 1952–54 triangulation result as 8,847.73 m. China reaffirmed the height with 8,848.13 m in 1975. In 2005 China announced 8,844.43 m, a figure based on the highest point of rock rather than the snow and ice covering it, which explains why it is lower than the others.^[1]^[2]

Base camps

Most expeditions start from one of two base camps. According to the Everest base camps article, South Base Camp, in Nepal, is at 5,364 m (17,598 ft). North Base Camp, in Tibet, is given as 5,150 m (16,900 ft) in the article's opening text, although its infobox lists 5,200 m. Other pages give slightly different figures for the camps, so treat base camp heights as approximate.^[1]^[4]

Did you know?

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people documented on the summit, on 29 May 1953.

Questions people ask

How high is Mount Everest in feet?

Mount Everest is 8,848.86 m, or 29,031.7 ft, above sea level. This is the joint Nepal–China figure announced in December 2020.^[1]

Is Everest 8,848 m or 8,849 m?

Both appear in sources. 8,848 m was the Survey of India figure from 1954. The 2020 survey gave 8,848.86 m, which rounds to 8,849 m.^[1]^[2]

How high is Everest Base Camp?

South Base Camp in Nepal is at 5,364 m (17,598 ft). North Base Camp in Tibet is given as 5,150 m (16,900 ft), though one listing on the same page says 5,200 m.^[4]