Majestic photos from the world's 50 tallest mountains

In most elementary schools, children are introduced to a handful of explorers throughout history who were primarily responsible for circumnavigating the globe and unifying people of various geographic locations, the likes of whom include Marco Polo, Lewis and Clark, and Ferdinand Magellan. Hundreds of years ago, these men took to the oceans in search of a new frontier, traveling north and south, east and west to discover something new they could share with their compatriots upon return to their home country. Perhaps underappreciated for their exploratory contribution to history, England's Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepal's Tenzing Norgay successfully ascended the 29,035-foot summit of the Himalayas' Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, for the first time in human history.

Thanks to trailblazing climbers such as Hillary and Norgay setting the precedent that these kinds of ascents are humanly possible, future generations with advanced technologies have been able to go on similar expeditions and capture breathtaking photographs of some of Earth's most impressive mountain ranges. Modern technology has even allowed researchers to locate and create images of massive, mountain-like structures—taller than Mount Everest itself—beneath the Earth's crust, as reported by a study published in Nature in January 2025.

Though impressive as these mountains may be, there's nothing quite as breathtaking as the peaks on the planet's surface. Using data from Peaklist, Stacker has composed a list of the world's tallest mountains according to prominence, a measurement of the shortest possible distance between a mountain's peak and base, and included otherworldly images to accompany each one.

Read on to be blown away by some of the planet's most marvelous natural formations.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve // Flickr

1 / 50

#50. Mount Blackburn

Elevation: 16,391 ft

Prominence: 11,598 ft

Location: 61º44' N, 143º26' W (Alaska, USA)

Yunsheng Bai // Flickr

2 / 50

#49. Kongur Shan

Elevation: 25,095 ft

Prominence: 11,762 ft

Location: 38º36' N, 75º19' E (China)

Henri Nissen // Wikimedia Commons

3 / 50

#48. Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi)

Elevation: 16,853 ft

Prominence: 11,847 ft

Location: 39º42' N, 44º18' E (Turkey)

Kogo // Wikimedia Commons

4 / 50

#47. Minya Konka (Mount Gongga)

Elevation: 24,790 ft

Prominence: 11,949 ft

Location: 29º36' N, 101º53' E (China)

Petruss // Wikimedia Commons

5 / 50

#46. Ritacuba Blanco

Elevation: 17,749 ft

Prominence: 11,959 ft

Location: 6º29' N, 72º18' W (Colombia)

Petter Bjørstad

6 / 50

#45. Finisterre Range HP (Mount Boising)

Elevation: 13,533 ft

Prominence: 12,057 ft

Location: 5º57' S, 146º22' E (Papua New Guinea)

Arian Zwegers // Wikimedia Commons

7 / 50

#44. Gunung Semeru (Mount Semeru)

Elevation: 12,060 ft

Prominence: 12,060 ft

Location: 8º06' S, 112º55' E (Indonesia)

Sergejf // Wikimedia Commons

8 / 50

#43. Nevado Ojos del Salado

Elevation: 22,615 ft

Prominence: 12,100 ft

Location: 27º07' S, 68º32' W (Argentina/Chile)

Maxim Bouev // Wikimedia Commons

9 / 50

#42. Gunnbjørn Fjeld

Elevation: 12,119 ft

Prominence: 12,119 ft

Location: 68º55' N, 29º54' W (Greenland)

Miguel Vieira // Wikimedia Commons

10 / 50

#41. Monte San Valentin

Elevation: 13,313 ft

Prominence: 12,126 ft

Location: 46º36' S, 73º20' W (Chile)

Daniel Gainza // Wikimedia Commons

11 / 50

#40. Pico del Teide (Mount Teide)

Elevation: 12,198 ft

Prominence: 12,198 ft

Location: 28º16' N, 16º39' W (Spain)

Tomabarker // Wikimedia Commons

12 / 50

#39. Kangchenjunga

Elevation: 28,169 ft

Prominence: 12,867 ft

Location: 27º42' N, 88º09' E (India/Nepal)

Wisnu Widiarta // Pixabay

13 / 50

#39. Gunung Rinjani

Elevation: 12,224 ft

Prominence: 12,224 ft

Location: 8º25' S, 116º28' E (Indonesia)

Mariordo // Wikimedia Commons

14 / 50

#38. Cerro Chirripó

Elevation: 12,533 ft

Prominence: 12,228 ft

Location: 9º29' N, 83º29' W (Costa Rica)

Omer Simkha // Flickr

15 / 50

#37. Jbel Toubkal

Elevation: 13,671 ft

Prominence: 12,319 ft

Location: 31º04' N, 7º55' W (Morocco)

Bernard Spragg // Flickr

16 / 50

#36. Mount Cook (Aoraki)

Elevation: 12,319 ft

Prominence: 12,319 ft

Location: 43º36' S, 170º08' E (New Zealand)

Dr. Bernd Gross // Wikimedia Commons

17 / 50

#35. Mount Fuji

Elevation: 12,388 ft

Prominence: 12,388 ft

Location: 35º22' N, 138º44' E (Japan)

Lin Padgham // Flickr

18 / 50

#34. Mount Erebus

Elevation: 12,448 ft

Prominence: 12,448 ft

Location: 77º31' S, 167º11' E (Antarctica)

Uprising // Wikimedia Commons

19 / 50

#33. Gunung Kerinci (Mount Kerinci)

Elevation: 12,483 ft

Prominence: 12,483 ft

Location: 1º42' S, 101º16' E (Indonesia)

Masa Sakano // Flickr

20 / 50

#32. Mount Kenya

Elevation: 17,057 ft

Prominence: 12,549 ft

Location: 0º09' S, 37º18' E (Kenya)

rem734 // Pixabay

21 / 50

#31. Mount Cameroon

Elevation: 13,254 ft

Prominence: 12,798 ft

Location: 4º13' N, 9º10' E (Cameroon)

manalahmadkhan // Wikimedia Commons

22 / 50

#30. Tirich Mir

Elevation: 25,288 ft

Prominence: 12,827 ft

Location: 36º15' N, 71º51' E (Pakistan)

El.Sarmiento // Wikimedia Commons

23 / 50

#28. Ngaliema (Mount Stanley)

Elevation: 16,762 ft

Prominence: 12,962 ft

Location: 0º23' N, 29º52' E (Congo/Uganda)

Grantabc99 // Wikimedia Commons

24 / 50

#27. Yushain (Mount Jade, Mount Yu)

Elevation: 12,966 ft

Prominence: 12,966 ft

Location: 23º28' N, 120º57' E (Taiwan)

Eric E Castro // Wikimedia Commons

25 / 50

#26. Mount Fairweather

Elevation: 15,325 ft

Prominence: 12,956 ft

Location: 58º54' N, 137º31' W (US/Canada)

ALJB // Wikimedia Commons

26 / 50

#25. Pico Bolívar

Elevation: 16,341 ft

Prominence: 12,982 ft

Location: 8º32' N, 71º03' W (Venezuela)

Javier Ruata // Flickr

27 / 50

#24. Volcán Tajumulco

Elevation: 13,845 ft

Prominence: 13,058 ft

Location: 15º03' N, 91º54' W (Guatemala)

Florian Fell // Wikimedia Commons

28 / 50

#23. Ras Dejen

Elevation: 15,092 ft

Prominence: 13,090 ft

Location: 13º14' N, 38º22' E (Ethiopia)

Kuno Lechner // Wikimedia Commons

29 / 50

#22. K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen, Chhogori)

Elevation: 28,251 ft

Prominence: 13,179 ft

Location: 35º53' N, 76º31' E (Pakistan/China)

Stan Shebs // Wikimedia Commons

30 / 50

#21. Mount Rainier

Elevation: 14,411 ft

Prominence: 13,196 ft

Location: 46º51' N, 121º46' W (Washington, USA)

kennethr // Pixabay

31 / 50

#20. Gunung Kinabalu (Mount Kinabalu)

Elevation: 13,435 ft

Prominence: 13,435 ft

Location: 6º04' N, 116º34' E (Malaysia)

Cherry933 // Wikimedia Commons

32 / 50

#19. Namcha Barwa

Elevation: 25,531 ft

Prominence: 13,471 ft

Location: 29º38' N, 95º03' E (China)

Leoboudv // Wikimedia Commons

33 / 50

#18. Bogda Shan

Elevation: 17,864 ft

Prominence: 13,523 ft

Location: 43º48' N, 88º20' E (China)

Waszti // Pixabay

34 / 50

#17. Chimborazo

Elevation: 20,561 ft

Prominence: 13,523 ft

Location: 1º28' S, 78º49' W (Ecuador)

Chen Zhao // Wikimedia Commons

35 / 50

#16. Jengish Chokusu (Pik Pobedy)

Elevation: 24,406 ft

Prominence: 13,609 ft

Location: 42º02' N, 80º07' E (Kyrgyzstan/China)

pedrik // Flickr

36 / 50

#15. Mauna Kea

Elevation: 13,796 ft

Prominence: 13,796 ft

Location: 19º49' N, 155º28' W (Hawaii, USA)

Ahmed Sajjad Zaidi // Flickr

37 / 50

#14. Nanga Parbat (Diamer)

Elevation: 26,657 ft

Prominence: 15,118 ft

Location: 35º14' N, 74º36' E (Pakistan)

ShinePhantom // Wikimedia Commons

38 / 50

#13. Klyuchevskaya Volcano

Elevation: 15,584 ft

Prominence: 15,252 ft

Location: 56º03' N, 160º39' E (Russia)

Greger Ravik // Wikimedia Commons

39 / 50

#12. Mount Damavand

Elevation: 18,405 ft

Prominence: 15,311 ft

Location: 35º57' N, 52º07' E (Iran)

Jan-Jaap Poldervaart // Pixabay

40 / 50

#11. Mont Blanc

Elevation: 15,777 ft

Prominence: 15,406 ft

Location: 45º50' N, 6º52' E (France/Italy)

Jason Blue-Smith // Wikimedia Commons

41 / 50

#10. Gora Elbrus (Mount Elbrus)

Elevation: 18,510 ft

Prominence: 15,554 ft

Location: 43º21' N, 42º26' E (Russia)

Alfindra Primaldhi // Wikimedia Commons

42 / 50

#9. Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid)

Elevation: 16,023 ft

Prominence: 16,023 ft

Location: 4º04' S, 137º11' E (Indonesia)

Christian Stangl // Wikimedia Commons

43 / 50

#8. Vinson Massif

Elevation: 16,050 ft

Prominence: 16,050 ft

Location: 78º31' S, 85º36' W (Antarctica)

pacomexico // Wikimedia Commons

44 / 50

#7. Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl)

Elevation: 18,491 ft

Prominence: 16,148 ft

Location: 19º02' N, 97º16' W (Mexico)

Gerald Holdsworth // Wikimedia Commons

45 / 50

#6. Mount Logan

Elevation: 19,550 ft

Prominence: 17,224 ft

Location: 60º34' N, 140º24' W (Canada)

Gunjarinmaku // Wikimedia Commons

46 / 50

#5. Pico Cristóbal Colón

Elevation: 18,701 ft

Prominence: 18,074 ft

Location: 10º50' N, 73º41' W (Colombia)

Chris 73 // Wikimedia Commons

47 / 50

#4. Mount Kilimanjaro

Elevation: 19,340 ft

Prominence: 19,308 ft

Location: 3º04' S, 37º21' E (Tanzania)

Frank K. // Wikimedia Commons

48 / 50

#3. Denali (formerly Mount McKinley)

Elevation: 20,320 ft

Prominence: 20,138 ft

Location: 63º06' N, 151º03' W (Alaska, USA)

Miguel // Flickr

49 / 50

#2. Aconcagua

Elevation: 22,841 ft

Prominence: 22,841 ft

Location: 32º39' S, 70º01' W (Argentina)

shrimpo1967 // Wikimedia Commons

50 / 50

#1. Mount Everest

Elevation: 29,028 ft

Prominence: 29,028 ft

Location: 27º59' N, 86º55' E (Nepal/Tibet)