Biggest Mountain Range
The biggest mountain range in the world is the Himalayas. More than 30 peaks exceed 24,000 ft/7315 m high. It has the Earth’s highest mountain, Mount Everest. It is 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) above sea level.
Other Facts about the Himalayas
The word Himalayas means ‘Land of Snow'. This mountain range has a roughly crescent shape extending for 1,500 miles. It runs through Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, Southern Tibet, northern India and northeastern Pakistan.
The Andes: the Longest Mountain Range
The Andes has several peaks standing over 20,000 feet. It is the second tallest mountain range after the Himalayas. It is also the longest mountain range in the world, extending 4,500 miles (7,200 km) north to south.
The Andes Mountains are found in South America. It is at the continent’s western portion, running north to south. If length is the barometer, the biggest mountain range would be the Andes.
The Alps
The Alps is another large mountain range. It spans an area over 192,000 km2. The range extends for 750 miles (1,200 km. It begins at Austria and goes through Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany and France.
Nearly 13 million people live near it in over six thousand communities. The tallest peak is Mont Blanc at 15,771 feet. It also has numerous glaciers.
The Rocky Mountains
One of the most famous ranges the world, the Rocky Mountains stretches from Canada to New Mexico. The length is 3,000 miles (4,800 km). Mount Elbert is the tallest peak at 14,440 feet (4,401 m) above the sea level. It is in Colorado.
Karakoram
This mountain range is at the Chinese border, northern India and northeast Pakistan. It is 300 miles long and has some of the longest glaciers on the planet.
Other Mountain Ranges
The Arctic Cordillera is the most northernmost mountain on earth. It also holds the highest point to the east of North America. Other major ranges in the world include the Pyrenees, Balkan Mountains and Carpathians in Europe. In North America, among the most widely known are the Laurentides, Sierra Nevada and the Appalachians.
Definition
A mountain range refers to one big mass made of a series of mountains. The term can also be applied to mountain ridges that are spaced narrowly.
This list of the biggest mountain range does not include the peaks in the oceans. If they are, the longest would be the mid-ocean ridge. It spans 65,000 kilometers (40,389 miles) around the world.
