Mt. Everest. (IANS Photo)
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 8 (IANS): It's official. The height of world's tallest peak is slightly higher than it was measured earlier.
On Tuesday, Nepal and China jointly announced that Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is 8,848.86 metres. The former height of the mountain, 8848 metres, was measured in 1954 by Survery of India.
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 started re-measuring the height of Everest from 2017 and completed it last year.
Later, during the visit of Chinese President to Nepal last year, Nepal and China had agreed to remeasure the height of Everest.
Nepal decided to remeasure the peak after speculations that the widely accepted height might not be the actual height after the 2015 earthquake.
Officials of the government had coordinated with China, who sent its own team to measure the height of the Everest.
