The Himalayan mountain range extends across 2,415 kilometers from (from east to west) Pakistan to India to China/Tibet and Bhutan. The Himalayas form the southern border of the Great Central Asian Plateau. The Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra rivers all have their source in the Himalaya.

The largest mountains of the Himalayan chain are:

• Everest -- 8,848 m
• K2 -- 8,611 m
• Kanchenjunga -- 8,568 m
• Lhotse -- 8,501 m
• Nuptse -- 7,861 m
• Changtse -- 7,560 m
• Khumbutse -- 6,665 m

"Himalaya" is a Sanskrit word which literally means "abode of snow" a term coined by people who travelled in these mountains in ancient times.

The Himalayas were began forming around 50-30 million years ago when the then separated continent of India collided with the Eurasian plate. This mountain range is relatively young and still experiencing uplift as the Indian continent moves northward at about 2-3 centimeters per year, making the Himalayas the tallest mountain range on Earth.

see plate tectonics