10 Facts About the Himalayas

The youngest high mountains on Earth, still rising: ten clear facts about the Himalayas.

The Himalayas are the highest mountain range on Earth. They form a long arc across the north of the Indian subcontinent and shape its weather, rivers and history. Here are ten facts to understand them.

1. The name means "abode of snow"

"Himalaya" comes from two Sanskrit words: hima (snow) and alaya (home or abode).

2. About 2,400 km long

The range runs for roughly 2,400 km, from Nanga Parbat in the west to Namcha Barwa in the east.

3. Five countries share it

The Himalayas pass through India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet) and Pakistan.

4. Home of the world's highest peak

Mount Everest, 8,848.86 m high (measured jointly by Nepal and China in 2020), stands on the Nepal–China border. It is not in India.

5. India's highest peak is Kangchenjunga

At 8,586 m, Kangchenjunga on the Sikkim–Nepal border is the highest peak in India and the third highest in the world.

6. Made by a collision of continents

Millions of years ago, the Indian plate moved north and crashed into the Eurasian plate. The collision began about 40 to 50 million years ago and pushed the land up into mountains. In geological terms, the Himalayas are young.

7. They are still rising

The Indian plate is still pushing north, so the Himalayas are still slowly rising. The same movement is why the region has earthquakes.

8. Sea fossils on the mountain tops

Rocks near the top of Everest contain fossils of sea creatures. These rocks were once at the bottom of an ancient ocean before the collision lifted them.

9. The source of great rivers

The Ganga, Yamuna, Indus and Brahmaputra all begin in the Himalayan region. Hundreds of millions of people depend on their water.

10. The "Third Pole"

The Himalayas and the nearby Tibetan Plateau hold so much ice that scientists call the region the "Third Pole", after the Arctic and Antarctica.