China and Nepal agree on new height for Mount Everest; Know the height-

Kathmandu, Dec 9: After more than a decade of disputes and controversy between China and Nepal, both have finally agreed on the height of the world's highest peak - Mount Everest. The mountain that is located at Nepal's border with Tibet in the Himalayas, stands at 8848.86 meters (about 29,032 feet), officials from both countries announced on December 8, 2020. This is less than a meter higher than the previously recognized height.

 

The agreement by both the countries has put an end to a long-running debate over the precise dimensions of the mountain, known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet. For many years, the two countries as well as other governments around the world have offered up differing estimates of the mountain's height.

 

The argument started over Nepal stating that the snow on the top of Mount Everest must be added to the official measurement while the Chinese authorities said that only the rock height should be measured. However, in 2005, China calculated the height of Mount Everest and estimated that it stood at around 8,844 meters (about 29,015 feet). At that time, Nepal refused to accept the new height as it was not authorized by Nepal. Till now, the official height of Mount Everest was measured according to the survey done by India in 1954.

 

The virtual press conference was attended by Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Later in 2015, multiple scientific studies suggested the mountain's elevation may have changed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. Two years later, the Nepali government decided to go ahead with re-measuring the height.

 

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Nepal in 2019, both countries agreed to jointly announce the new height, calling the peak "an eternal symbol of the friendship between Nepal and China." China started measuring from the Tibetan side of the mountain following Xi's visit.

 

China sent an eight-member team to carry out its own survey. Since then, the two sides have been analyzing their findings. The new height was calculated using a combination of geodetic data received from three mechanisms: leveling instrument, gravity meter and GPS. The team placed a signal receiver at every station, and measured how much time it took for signals to travel between the receiver and satellites — then converted that measurement into height.