Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā and Khangchendzonga, is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas, the Kangchenjunga Himal, which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. It lies in the border region between Nepal and Sikkim state of India, with three of the five peaks, namely Main, Central and South, directly on the border, and the peaks West and Kangbachen in Nepal's Taplejung District.
| Kangchenjunga | |
|---|---|
| Nepali: कञ्चनजङ्घा, romanized: Kanchanjanghā | |
Kangchenjunga from Pelling, Sikkim, India | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 8,586 m (28,169 ft) Ranked 3rd |
| Prominence | 3,922 m (12,867 ft) Ranked 29th |
| Isolation | 124 km (77 mi) |
| Listing |
|
| Coordinates | 27°42′09″N 88°08′48″E |
| Geography | |
Kangchenjunga Location of Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga (Koshi Province) Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga (India) Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga (Nepal) | |
| Location |
|
| Parent range | Himalayas |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 25 May 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band on British Kangchenjunga expedition (First winter ascent 11 January 1986 by Jerzy Kukuczka and Krzysztof Wielicki) |
| Easiest route | glacier/snow/ice climb |
Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations and measurements by the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in 1849 showed that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at the time, is actually higher. After allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga was the third-highest mountain, after Everest and K2 of Karakoram.
The Kangchenjunga is a sacred mountain in Nepal and Sikkim and was first climbed on 25 May 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band, who were part of the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition. They stopped just short of the true summit, keeping a promise given to Tashi Namgyal, the Chogyal of Sikkim, that the top of the mountain would remain inviolate. The Indian side of the mountain is off-limits to climbers. In 2016, the adjoining Khangchendzonga National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.