Gangkhar Puensum
Encyclopedia
Gangkhar Puensum is the highest mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

 and a strong candidate for the highest unclimbed mountain
Highest unclimbed mountain
The highest unclimbed mountain in a particular region or in the world is often a matter of controversy. In some parts of the world surveying and mapping are still not reliable, and there are not comprehensive records of the routes of explorers, mountaineers and local inhabitants.However, a major...

 in the world with an elevation of 7,570 metres and a prominence
Topographic prominence
In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop , or prime factor , categorizes the height of the mountain's or hill's summit by the elevation between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit...

 of over 2990 metres. It lies on the border with China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 (however, see below for disputes about its exact location). After Bhutan was opened for mountaineering in 1983 there were four expeditions that made failed summit attempts in 1985 and 1986. However, in 1998, a team successfully climbed a subsidiary peak of the mountain from Tibet
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

.

Gangkhar Puensum, alternative transliteration Gangkar Punsum or Gankar Punzum (meaning 3 mountain siblings"), had its altitude first measured in 1922 but, until recent years, maps of the region were not at all accurate and the mountain had been shown in different locations and with markedly different heights. Indeed, because of inadequate mapping, the first team to attempt the summit was unable to find the mountain at all.

The book of the 1986 British expedition gives the mountain's height as 24,770 feet and states that Gangkhar Puensum is completely inside Bhutan, whereas the nearby Kula Kangri
Kula Kangri
Kula Kangri is claimed by many authorities to be the highest mountain in Bhutan but this is disputed by others, who claim that Kula Kangri is wholly in Tibet. The first ascent was by a Japanese team in 1986...

 is completely inside Tibet. Kula Kangri, 7,554 metres, is a separate mountain 30 km to the northeast which was first climbed in 1986. It is variously mapped and described as being in Tibet or Bhutan.

Since 1994 climbing of mountains in Bhutan higher than 6,000 metres has been prohibited out of respect for local spiritual beliefs and since 2003 mountaineering has been forbidden completely. Gangkhar Puensum may keep its unique status for some time: Any higher unclimbed peaks in the world are likely to be subsidiary tops, not separate mountains.

In 1998 a Japanese expedition secured permission from the Chinese Mountaineering Association to climb the mountain, but permission was withdrawn because of a political issue with Bhutan. Instead, in 1999, the team set off from Tibet and successfully climbed the 7,535 metre subsidiary peak, Liankang Kangri (also known as Gangkhar Puensum North). Unlike most maps, the expedition's report shows this summit as being in Tibet and the Tibet-Bhutan border is shown crossing the summit of Gangkhar Puensum, described as "the highest peak in Bhutan," at 7,570 metres. This elevation is supported by Japanese sources, in turn based on Chinese sources. It has not been surveyed by Bhutan.
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