Geography & Countries

The Tallest Mountains in Asia

Asia doesn't just contain the world's tallest mountain — it contains all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks on Earth, all packed into the Himalaya and the Karakoram. Ranked by elevation above sea level.

Mount Everest, the highest mountain in Asia and the world, as seen in National Geographic's Everest - Getting to the Top
Rank Mountain Elevation Range
1Everest8,849 mHimalaya
2K28,611 mKarakoram
3Kangchenjunga8,586 mHimalaya
4Lhotse8,516 mHimalaya
5Makalu8,485 mHimalaya
6Cho Oyu8,188 mHimalaya
7Dhaulagiri I8,167 mHimalaya
8Manaslu8,163 mHimalaya
9Nanga Parbat8,126 mHimalaya
10Annapurna I8,091 mHimalaya
11Gasherbrum I8,080 mKarakoram
12Broad Peak8,051 mKarakoram
13Gasherbrum II8,035 mKarakoram
14Shishapangma8,027 mHimalaya
15Gyachung Kang7,952 mHimalaya

The Top 5

#1

Everest — 8,849 m

Called Sagarmatha in Nepal and Chomolungma in Tibet, Everest sits directly on the Nepal–China border and is climbed from both sides via very different route styles.[1]

#2

K2 — 8,611 m

K2 sits on the Pakistan–China border in the Karakoram, a different range entirely from the rest of this top five, and has no easy route to its summit — every side is a serious technical climb.[2]

#3

Kangchenjunga — 8,586 m

Straddling Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim, Kangchenjunga is worshipped as a guardian deity locally, which is part of why several expeditions have chosen to halt just below the literal high point.[3]

#4

Lhotse — 8,516 m

Lhotse's name means "South Peak" in Tibetan, describing its position relative to Everest, which looms immediately to its north across the shared South Col.[4]

#5

Makalu — 8,485 m

Makalu rises about 19 km southeast of Everest in Nepal, and its sharp pyramidal form makes it one of the more instantly recognizable peaks in the Himalaya, despite being climbed far less often.[5]

Geography Mountains Asia

Sources

  1. China–Nepal joint 2020 survey of Mount Everest's elevation, and general eight-thousander/Himalaya elevation data aggregated from national survey and mountaineering-record sources.
  2. K2 geography and route history, aggregated from mountaineering historical sources.
  3. Kangchenjunga cultural and geographic background, aggregated from mountaineering historical sources.
  4. Lhotse geography, aggregated from mountaineering reference sources.
  5. Makalu geography, aggregated from mountaineering reference sources.