Which Is the Tallest Mountain in the World? It Depends on Who You Ask
That’s Mt. Everest, the widely accepted tallest mountain — and indeed, it is one of the competitors. But depending on who you ask, you might get a different answer.
If you’re in Nepal, China, or indeed most of the world, everyone will tell you that Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain.
If you go to Hawaii, the locals will proudly point out that Mauna Kea is the tallest.
And in Ecuador, they’ll tell you that the inactive stratovolcano Chimborazo is the rightful owner of the title.
And surprisingly enough, all of these answers are right; it just depends on the criteria you use. So let’s see exactly how each of these mountains classify as the tallest in the world:
Mt. Everest
Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain when its height is measured from sea level. In other words, it’s the mountain that reaches the highest altitude. For this reason, it’s widely recognized as the rightful tallest mountain in the world.
Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea reaches an altitude of 13,796ft, which is much less than Mt. Everest. However, if you measure the mountain from its base (at seafloor) to summit, it stretches more than 33,000ft — making it the tallest mountain in the world.
Chimborazo
The Earth is not a perfect sphere — it is widest at its equator. This means that if the tallest mountain is the furthest point from the Earth’s center, then Chimborazo would win the contest despite having a relatively low altitude(6,310ft).
