The World's Highest Mountain Measures 8844.43 Meters
It is not 8848.13, nor 8850, but 8844.43 meters – this, according to the newest findings by Chinese scientists, is the height of Mt. Everest. Chen Bangzhu, director general of China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, made the declaration on October 9. This came after a team of Chinese researchers and mountaineers conducted their measurement over a period of several months, which includes a climb to the top of the mountain in May.
Previously the Chinese government used 8848.13 as the official height for the world's tallest peak, a figure the Chinese obtained after the climb to the top of the mountain in 1975. In 1999 a group of American scientists sponsored by the National Geographic and Boston's Museum of Science announced that Mt. Everest measures 8850 meters in height; they came to the conclusion after scaling the mountain and operating GPS (Global Positioning System) equipments atop the peak. China, however, never officially adopted that figure and instead prepared for a new measurement of their own, which they carried out earlier this year. Director General Chen said that Chinese surveyors used the most advanced technology and combined several measures to reach the figure 8844.43 meters or 29017.16 feet.
The English name Everest was after Sir George Everest, 1790-1866, who served as surveyor general of India in the 1830s. The Chinese name for the mountain is Zhumulangma, which is Chinese transliteration of Tibetan Chomolungma, meaning "mother goddess of the world."
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