List of past presumed highest mountains
The following is a list of mountains that have been presumed, at one time, to be the highest mountain in the world. How general the following presumptions were is unclear.
- Chimborazo, 6,267 metres (20,561 ft). Presumed highest from sixteenth century until the beginning of the 19th century. Not in the top 100 highest mountains.
- Nanda Devi, 7,816 metres (25,643 ft). Presumed highest in the world before Kangchenjunga was sighted in an era when Nepal was still closed to the outside world. Now known to be the 23rd highest mountain in the world.
- Dhaulagiri, 8,167 metres (26,795 ft). Presumed highest from 1808 until 1838. Now known to be the 7th highest mountain in the world.
- Kangchenjunga, 8,586 metres (28,169 ft). Presumed highest from 1838 until 1852. Now known to be the 3rd highest mountain in the world.
- Mount Everest, 8,848 metres (29,029 ft). Established as highest in 1852 and officially confirmed in 1856.
Related notes
- This list has no relevance before the first world-wide explorations in the 16th century.
- The summit of Chimborazo is in fact the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's center, due to the equatorial bulge. (There may be a close tie with Huascarán.)
- An inaccurate survey in the 1980s led to claims that K2, 8,611 metres (28,251 ft), was in fact higher than Everest. These claims were widely reported but were found to have no validity.
See also