Kathmandu, December 8
Nepal and China have jointly announced that Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is 8,848.86 metres.
Until today, the official height of Sagarmatha as it is called in Nepal was 8,848 metres.
Nepal’s Foreign Affairs Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Land Management Minister Padma Kumari Aryal, Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi and other officials made the announcement during a virtual ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.
Nepal had launched a measurement mission in April 2019. The Nepali side already completed its task almost a year ago but was waiting for the Chinese side to finalise a date for the announcement.
Although Nepal had planned the remeasurement of the Everest height, believed to be altered by the 2015 earthquake, on its own, the two countries made an agreement in October last year to announce the height jointly. Following that, China measured the height of Everest from the northern side in May this year.
