Mountains such as Everest soar miles into the sky.
Those pictured below are the tallest measured from sea level to their summit.
The farthest point from Planet Earth's center belongs to Ecuador's lesser-known Mount Chimborazo. The U.S. National Ocean Service explains this is the case because our planet is not a perfect sphere and is a little thicker around its equator.
A statement on NOAA's site reads: "The summit of Chimborazo is 20,564ft above sea level. However, due to the Earth's bulge, the summit of Chimborazo is over 6,800 feet farther from the center of the Earth than Everest's peak."
Take a tour of the world's tallest mountains...
=19. Distaghil Sar
7,893m (25,896ft)
Disteghil Sar, also known as Distaghil Sar, is the highest mountain in the Hispar Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range, in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Its name means "above the inner ranch" in the Wakhi language, it is Pakistan's seventh highest peak, and it is the joint 19th highest mountain on Earth.
=19. Himalchuli
7,893m (25,896ft)
Situated in Nepal's Lamjung District, Himalchuli is the second highest mountain of the Mansiri Himal sub-range of the Himalayas.
Himal Chuli translates as "sharp snow peak" in Nepali and true to its name, this mountain presents a varied topography, with gradual glacier-covered slopes interspersed with raggedly rocky summits.
18. Gasherbrum IV
7,932m (26,024ft)
If there is a mountain harder to climb than K2, it is considered to be Gasherbrum IV, one of a remote group of peaks located at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range of the Himalaya.
Its sheer rock faces present a serious challenge to mountaineers and these obstacles are exacerbated by being located in a part of the world where the weather is notoriously unstable.
17. Annapurna II
7,937m (26,040ft)
Annapurna II is part of the Annapurna mountain range located in Nepal, and is the eastern anchor of the range.
This mountain was first successfully conquered in 1960 by a British-Indian-Nepalese team led by J. O. M. Roberts via the West Ridge which approached Annapurna II from the north.
16. Gasherbrum III
7,946m (26,070ft)
Gasherbrum III is a summit in the Gasherbrum massif of the Baltoro Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram on the border between Xinjiang, China and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Also known as the "Forgotten Peak," Gasherbrum III's remote location is one of the many reasons the mountain has reportedly only been summited twice.
15. Gyachung Kang
7,952m (26,089ft)
Gyachung Kang is a mountain in the Mahalangur Himal section of the Himalaya and is the highest peak between Cho Oyu and Mount Everest.
This mountain's is the tallest peak shy of 8,000 metres and, in a range of giants, lacks significant prominence on the skyline.
14. Shishapangma
8,027m (26,335ft)
Shishapangma is the 14th highest mountain in the world, and the only 8,000m peak lying solely in Tibet.
The mountain is considered by many to be one of the most approachable 8km peaks to climb because of its direct route and relatively short approach to Base Camp.
13. Gasherbrum II
8,035m (26,362ft)
Gasherbrum II, the world's 13th highest peak and one of the fourteen 8,000m peaks, is situated at the head of Pakistan's Baltoro Glacier amongst giants such as K2, Gasherbrum 1 and Broad Peak.
Gasherbrum II is one of the most remote and arduous to approach in the Himalayas.
12. Broad Peak
8,051m (26,414ft)
Broad Peak, a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range on the border of Pakistan and China, is the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at 8,047 metres above sea level.
The mountain was first ascended in June 1957, and is nowadays considered one of the relatively easier among the Pakistan 8km club.
11. Gasherbrum I
8,080m (26,510ft)
Gasherbrum I, also known as Hidden Peak, is located in the District Shigar Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan.
The mountain's name is derived from the Balti words "rgasha," meaning beautiful and "brum," translated as mountain.
10. Annapurna I
8,091m (26,545ft)
Annapurna is a massif in the Himalayas in north-central Nepal including one peak towering more than 8km into the sky, in addition to thirteen peaks over 7km, and sixteen more over 6km.
Annapurna I takes the unenviable title as the world deadliest mountain; for every three people who successfully made it to the summit and back, one person has died.
9. Nanga Parbat
8,126m (26,660ft)
The name of Nanga Parbat, in the Diamer District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, translates as "naked-mountain." It is sometimes thought of as the western anchor of the Himalayas.
At least 30 mountaineers died on the mountain before Austrian climber Hermann Buhl reached the summit in 1953.
8. Manaslu
8,163m (26,781ft)
The Manaslu mountain is found in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal.
The name Manaslu translates as "mountain of the spirit" and is derived from the Sanskrit word manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul."
7. Dhaulagiri I
8,167m (26,795ft)
The Dhaulagiri mountain range in Nepal extends 75 miles (120km) from the Kaligandaki River west to the Bheri.
With a south wall that rises vertically some 15,000 feet (4,600 metres), the peak's steep sides and bitterly cold climate make the "White Mountain" extremely tricky to conquer.
6. Cho Oyu
8,188m (26,864ft)
Cho Oyu sits in the heart of the Tibetan-Nepalese Himalayas and offers climbers stunning views of hundreds of other peaks.
The mountain's name is translated as "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan, and the world's sixth-highest summit is considered to be the easiest of the fourteen 8km peaks.
5. Makalu
8,485m (27,838ft)
The world's fifth highest mountain is found in the Mahalangur Himalayas, 12 miles (19km) southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, China.
Its gargantuan size alone is awe-inspiring, but Makalu's perfect pyramid structure with four sharp ridges makes this mountain all the more spectacular.
4. Lhotse
8,516m (27,940ft)
Lhotse is a Himalayan mountain sitting on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
The name of the world's fourth-tallest peak is derived from the Tibetan for "South Peak." It was first ascended in May 1956.
3. Kangchenjunga
8,586m (28,169ft)
Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, is found in a section of the Himalayas bordered in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak Chu and Jongsang La and in the east by the Teesta River.
The third tallest mountain in the world has a name translated as "Five Treasures of the Great Snow," a reference to the number of its summits.
2. K2
8,611m (28,251ft)
K2, Chinese Qogir Feng, also called Mount Godwin Austen, called locally Dapsang or Chogori, is the world's second-highest peak.
Frequent and violent storms make K2's already treacherous climbing conditions even more challenging—and mountaineers find functioning at such altitudes difficult—this is considered one of the world's most difficult mountains to climb.
1. Mount Everest
8,848.86m (29,031.7ft)
The world's tallest mountain had humble beginnings, starting life as marine limestone deposited on the seafloor approximately 450 million years ago.
This rock was then forced ever upwards roughly 60 million years old, when the subcontinent of India moved rapidly north and collided with Eurasia, forming the Himalaya.
Mount Everest lies on the border of Nepal and China, meaning the countries share its modest summit so small, only a maximum of six climbers can stand there simultaneously.
Uncommon Knowledge
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