by Jo
9. April 2010 12:22
China and Nepal have resolved a long-running dispute over the height of Mount Everest.
They have now agreed that the world's highest mountain - which straddles the border between the two countries - should be officially recognised as being 8,848m tall.
The Chinese previously argued it should be measured by its rock height, while Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height - four metres higher. During talks in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, China accepted that claim. Nepal also recognises China's claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844m.
The mountain’s exact height has been disputed ever since the first measurement was made in 1856. The widely accepted height of 8,848m was first recorded by an Indian survey in 1955, which measured the mountain's snow cap, rather than the rock beneath it.
But geologists say that both the estimates could be wrong as they say the mountain is becoming higher as India is gradually pushed beneath China and Nepal due to shifting continental plates.
In 1999 an American team recorded a height of 8,850m with GPS technology - a figure that is now used by the US National Geographic Society - although it has not been officially accepted by Nepal.
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