Highest mountains

There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations greater than 7,200 metres (23,622 ft) above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian subcontinent and Tibet, with some peaks in Central Asia. Only those summits are included that, by an objective measure, may be considered individual mountains as opposed to subsidiary peaks.

The top 5 list:

It is very unlikely that all given heights are correct to the nearest metre; indeed, the sea level is often problematic to define when a mountain is remote from the sea. Different sources often differ by many metres, and the heights given below may well differ from those elsewhere in this encyclopedia. As an extreme example, Ulugh Muztagh on the north Tibetan Plateau is often listed as 7,723 m (25,338 ft) to 7,754 m (25,440 ft), but appears to be only 6,973 m (22,877 ft) to 6,987 m (22,923 ft). Some mountains differ by > 100 m (330 ft) on different maps, while even very thorough current measurements of Mount Everest range from 8,840 m (29,003 ft) to 8,850 m (29,035 ft). These discrepancies serve to emphasize the uncertainties in the listed heights.

Though some parts of the world, especially the most mountainous parts, have never been thoroughly mapped, it is unlikely that any mountains this high have been overlooked, because synthetic aperture radar can and has been used to measure elevations of most otherwise inaccessible places. Still, heights and/or prominences may be revised, so that the order of the list may change and even "new" mountains could enter the list over time. To be safe, the list has been extended to include all 7,200 m (23,622 ft) peaks.

The highest mountains above sea level are generally not the highest above the surrounding terrain. There is no precise definition of surrounding base, but Denali, Mount Kilimanjaro and Nanga Parbat are possible candidates for the tallest mountain on land by this measure. The bases of mountain islands are below sea level, and given this consideration Mauna Kea (4,207 m (13,802 ft) above sea level) is the world's tallest mountain and volcano, rising about 10,203 m (33,474 ft) from the Pacific Ocean floor. Ojos del Salado has the greatest rise on Earth—13,420 m (44,029 ft) from the summit to the bottom of the Atacama Trench about 560 km (350 mi) away, though most of this rise is not part of the mountain.