Tuesday, December 8, 2020

How tall is tallest peak? Historical row over Mt Everest height explained

 

The revised height of Mt Everest puts an end to the decades-long dispute between Nepal and China. All you need to know about the controversy



"This is a historic day. The new height of Mt Everest is 8,848.86 metres," Nepal and China announced on Tuesday after they remeasured Mt Everest at 8,848.86 metres, over six decades after India conducted the previous measurement in 1954.

The revised height of Mount Everest puts an end to the decades-long dispute between the two neighbours on the height of the world's tallest mountain that straddles their shared border. Describing Mount Everest "an important symbol of the China-Nepal traditional friendship," Xi Jinping said it is agreed by both countries as the boundary peak and the "Peak of China-Nepal Friendship," the Xinhua report said.

Mount Everest height controversy explained

The exact height of Mount Everest had been contested ever since a group of British surveyors in India declared the height of Peak XV to be 8,778 metres in 1847.

The revised height of Mt Everest puts an end to the decades-long dispute between the two neighbours on the height of the world's tallest mountain that straddles their shared border.

The peak of Mt Everest or as the Chinese call it 'Mt Qomolangma' played a significant role in the settlement of the boundary between Nepal and China, after Beijing gave up its claims over the whole mountain as part of its territory after it took control of Tibet in 1950.

The dispute was finally settled in 1961 after the intervention of the ruling Communist Party of China founder Mao Zedong, who suggested that the boundary line should pass through the summit of the Mt Everest, which was agreed by Nepal.

 

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