Mountain

A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill, but there is no universally accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill although a mountain usually has an identifiable summit. more...

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Mountains cover 54% of Asia, 36% of North America, 25% of Europe, 22% of South America, 17% of Australia, and 3% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earth's land mass is mountainous. 10% of people live in mountainous regions. Most of the world's rivers are fed from mountain sources, and more than half of humanity depends on mountains for water.

The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them.

Definitions

Some authorities define a mountain as a peak with a topographic prominence over a defined value: for example, according to the Britannica Student Encyclopedia, the term "generally refers to rises over 2,000 feet (610 m)". The Encyclopædia Britannica, on the other hand, does not prescribe any height, merely stating that "the term has no standardized geological meaning".

In the United Kingdom

In England and Wales the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has defined "mountain" (as a mass noun) as all land over 600 metres, for the purposes of right to roam legislation. This is a close metric equivalent of 2,000 feet (610 m). The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 does not appear to draw this distinction, and in Scotland the term "mountain" is more subjective, often being used for hills exceeding 3,000 feet (914.4 m) listed as Munros. In the United Kingdom the term "hill" is commonly used for all hills and mountains, regardless of height.

In the United States

In the United States, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names lists hundreds of landscape features under 1,000 feet (305 m) (some as low as 100 feet) named as "mountains." This is true for all parts of the United States, including the west coast where such lofty ranges as the Cascade Mountains dominate. And yet the Board does not attempt to distinguish between such features as mountains, hills, or other prominences, and simply categorizes all of them as summit, regardless of what they are called or how high they are. However, the Board does list and categorize such low mountain ranges as the Mount Tom Range (with a high point of 1,200 feet; 366 m) as range.

Height

The height of a mountain is measured as the elevation of its summit above mean sea level. The Himalayas average 5 km above sea level, while the Andes average 4 km. The highest mountain on land is Everest, 8,848 metres (29,030 ft) in the Himalayas.

Read more at Wikipedia.org