Nepal and China together announced what the height of Mount Everest is. Their joint statement ends discrepancies regarding the same.
The new height of Mount Everest is recorded as 8,848.86 meters or 29,031.7 feet high. It is higher than the previous measurement stated by Nepal. It is also 13 feet or four meters more elevated than the earlier records of China.
Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister of China, and the Nepalese counterpart named Pradeep Gyawali, jointly ‘pressed buttons’ on their communicative devices during an online conference. Their action revealed the new height on the screen.
The peak of Everest falls between the border of Nepal and China. After surveyors in Nepal scaled the mountain in 2019, a Chinese team did the same survey in 2020.
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The debate over what is the height of Mount Everest ends
The debate over what is the height of Mount Everest has been constant throughout several years. As per reports, it had shrunk after the tragic earthquake in 2015. The disaster killed 9,000 people and destroyed around 1 million structures in Nepal. It also triggered an avalanche in the mountain and that killed 19 people located at the base camp.
Mount Everest is undoubtedly the highest peak in the world, while Mount K2 is the second-highest being 8,611 meters tall.
The first height recorded of Everest in 1856 was 8,842 meters or 29,002 feet. A team of British did it. However, the accepted measurement of 8,848 meters or 29,028 feet was recorded in 1954 by the Survey of India.
With the help of GPS, a team from the National Geographic Society stated that the height is 8,850 meters or 29,035 feet. After the 1999 report, a Chinese team determined it to be 8,844.43 meters or 29,009 feet high in 2005.
A team by the Nepal government surveyed the mountain in May 2019 and installed satellite equipment and GPS to measure snow’s peak and depth at the summit. Later, Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, visited Nepal, and the leaders jointly decided to agree on the height.
A team from China conducted measurements during spring 2020. All other expeditions shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The climbing community of Nepal has dismissed all confusion regarding the height of the mountain. The President of Nepal Mountaineering Association, Santa Bir Lama, said that mountaineering history has reached a milestone. They now dismiss the debates over the height and have only one number to agree upon.
Growing closeness between China and Nepal
Xinhua news agency officially announced, quoting their President, that the countries have agreed to a particular height. They will now jointly work towards protecting the environment around the mountain and cooperating in science and research.
For China, the revelation seems to be as much political that much geographical. The country has drawn closer to Nepal than ever and is making investments in its economy. China is helping them build highways, airports, dams, and other infrastructural facilities.
All their investments will serve in the best of China’s interest and reduce its influence in India. China has a disputed border with India because Nepal plays a role in the lives of Tibetan refugees.
The report from Xinhua didn’t record technical aspects but did emphasize much about their geopolitical relations. Soon, Nepal and China will come closer and have a shared future to make the peoples of their countries better, said President Xi, as reported by Xinhua.
