Kangchenjunga

Kangchenjunga
Nepali: कञ्चनजङ्घा, romanized: Kanchanjanghā Sikkimese: གངས་ཆེན་མཛོད་ལྔ ; Wylie: Gangs Chen mdzod lnga
Kangchenjunga from Pelling, Sikkim, India
Highest point
Elevation8,586 m (28,169 ft)
Ranked 3rd
Prominence3,922 m (12,867 ft)
Ranked 29th
Listing
Coordinates27°42′09″N 88°08′48″E / 27.70250°N 88.14667°E / 27.70250; 88.14667
Geography
16km
9.9miles
Bhutan
Nepal
Pakistan
India
China
45
The major peaks (not mountains) above 7,500 m (24,600 ft) height in Himalayas, rank identified in Himalayas alone (not the world).
Location of Kangchenjunga
Location
Parent rangeHimalayas
Climbing
First ascent25 May 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band on the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition
(First winter ascent 11 January 1986 by Jerzy Kukuczka and Krzysztof Wielicki)
Easiest routeglacier/snow/ice climb

Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas, the Kangchenjunga Himal, which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. It lies in the border region between Koshi Province of Nepal and Sikkim state of India, with the West and Kangbachen peaks located in Nepal's Taplejung District and the Main, Central and South peaks directly on the border.

Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world. However, precise calculations and meticulous measurements by the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in 1849 showed that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at the time, is actually higher. After allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world.

Kangchenjunga is a sacred mountain in Nepal and Sikkim and was first climbed on 25 May 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band, who were part of the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition. They stopped just short of the true summit, keeping a promise given to Tashi Namgyal, the Chogyal of the Kingdom of Sikkim, that the top of the mountain would remain inviolate. The Indian side of the mountain is off limits to climbers. In 2016, the adjoining Khangchendzonga National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.