Editing Extremes on Earth (section)

===Highest points===
{{comparison_of_Earth_farthest_points.svg}}
[[File:Volcán Chimborazo, "El Taita Chimborazo".jpg|thumb|The summit of [[Chimborazo]] in [[Ecuador]] is the farthest point from Earth's centre.]]
* The '''highest point on Earth's surface''' measured from [[sea level]] is the summit of [[Mount Everest]], on the border of [[Nepal]] and [[China]]. While [[Mount Everest#Surveys|measurements of its height]] vary slightly, the elevation of its peak was most recently established in 2020 by the Nepali and Chinese authorities as {{cvt|8848.86|m|ft|1}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/new-height-of-mount-everest-announced-by-china-and-nepal/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201208113343/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/new-height-of-mount-everest-announced-by-china-and-nepal/|url-status= dead|archive-date= 8 December 2020|title= Mount Everest is more than two feet taller, China and Nepal announce|work=nationalgeographib.com|date= 9 February 2021}}</ref> The summit was first reached probably by Sir [[Edmund Hillary]] of [[New Zealand]] and [[Tenzing Norgay]] Sherpa of Nepal in 1953.
* The '''point farthest from Earth's centre''' is the summit of [[Chimborazo]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geology.com/records/highest-mountain-in-the-world.shtml |title=Highest Mountain in the World |work=geology.com}}</ref> in [[Ecuador]], at {{cvt|6384.4|km|mi|1}} from Earth's centre; the peak's elevation relative to sea level is {{cvt|6263.47|m|ft|0}}.{{efn|The elevation given here was established by a [[GPS]] survey in February 2016. The survey was carried out by a team from the [[Institut de recherche pour le développement|French Research Institute for Development]], working in cooperation with the [[Ecuador]]ian Military Geographic Institute.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chimborazo, el volcán de Ecuador más alto que el Everest (si se mide desde el centro de la Tierra) |publisher=[[BBC Mundo]] |date=7 April 2016 |url=http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2016/04/160407_por_que_chimborazo_ecuador_mas_lejos_centro_tierra_que_el_everest_dgm |access-date=8 April 2016}}</ref>}} Because Earth is an [[flattening|oblate]] [[spheroid]] rather than a perfect [[spherical Earth|sphere]], it is [[equatorial bulge|wider]] at the [[equator]] and narrower toward each [[geographical pole|pole]]. Therefore, the summit of Chimborazo, which is near the Equator, is farther away from Earth's centre than the summit of Mount Everest is; the latter is {{cvt|2168|m|ft|1}} closer, at {{cvt|6382.3|km|mi|1}} from Earth's centre. [[Peru]]'s [[Huascarán]] (at {{cvt|6768|m|ft|0|disp=or}}) contends closely with Chimborazo, though the former is a mere {{cvt|10|m|ft|}} closer to the Earth's centre.
* The '''fastest point on Earth''' or, in other words, '''the point farthest from Earth's rotational axis''' is the summit of [[Cayambe (volcano)|Cayambe]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Klenke |first1=Paul |title=Distance to the Center of the Earth |url=https://www.summitpost.org/distance-to-the-center-of-the-earth/849764 |website=Summit Post |access-date=4 July 2018}}</ref> in Ecuador, which rotates around Earth's axis at a speed of {{cvt|1675.89|km/h|mph|}} and is {{cvt|6383.95|km|mi|}} from the axis. Like Chimborazo, which is the fourth-fastest peak at {{cvt|1675.47|km/h|mph|}}, Cayambe is close to the Equator and takes advantage of the oblate spheroid [[figure of Earth]]. More important, however, Cayambe's proximity to the Equator means that the majority of its distance from the Earth's centre contributes to Cayambe's distance from the Earth's axis.

====Highest geographical features====
* The '''highest volcano''' is [[Ojos del Salado]] on the [[Argentina]]–[[Chile]] border. It has the highest summit, {{cvt|6893|m|0}}, of any [[volcano]] on Earth.
* The '''highest natural lake''' is an unnamed crater lake on [[Ojos del Salado]] at {{cvt|6390|m|0}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.andes.org.uk/peak-info-6000/ojos-del-salado-info.asp |title=Andes Website – Information about Ojos del Salado volcano, a high mountain in South America and the world's highest volcano |access-date=18 January 2013}}</ref> on the Argentina side. Another candidate was [[Lhagba Pool]] on the northeast slopes of [[Mount Everest]], Tibet, at an elevation of {{cvt|6368|m|0}}, which has since dried up.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highestlake.com/highest-lake-world.html#Lhagba |title=The Highest Lake in the World |access-date=7 September 2007 |archive-date=24 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824054810/http://www.highestlake.com/highest-lake-world.html#Lhagba |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The '''highest navigable lake''' is [[Lake Titicaca]], on the border of [[Bolivia]] and [[Peru]] in the [[Andes]], at {{cvt|3812|m|ft|0}}.
* The '''highest glacier''' is the [[Khumbu Glacier]] on the southwest slopes of Mount Everest in Nepal, beginning on the west side of [[Lhotse]] at an elevation of {{cvt|7600|to|8000|m|-2}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/igsoc/agl/2002/00000034/00000001/art00060?crawler=true |title=ASTER measurement of supraglacial lakes in the Mount Everest region of the Himalaya: ''The main Khumbu Glacier is about 17&nbsp;km long with elevations ranging from 4900m at the terminus to 7600m at the source''....The 7600m to 8000m elevations are also depicted on numerous detailed topographic maps |access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref>
* The '''highest river''' is disputed; one candidate from many possibilities is the [[Ating Ho]], which flows into the [[Aong Tso]] (Hagung Tso), a large lake in Tibet, and has an elevation of about {{cvt|6100|m|0}} at its source at {{Coord|32|49|30|N|81|03|45|E|type:waterbody|name=Ating Ho (source)}}. Another very large and high river is the [[Yarlung Tsangpo]] or upper [[Brahmaputra River]] in Tibet, whose main stem, the [[Maquan River]], has its source at about {{cvt|6020|m|0}} above sea level at {{Coord|30|48|59|N|82|42|45|E|type:waterbody_region:CN-54|name=Maquan River (source)}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.100gogo.com/bigben.htm |title=The Mystery of World's highest river and largest Canyon |access-date=7 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921032822/http://www.100gogo.com/bigben.htm |archive-date=21 September 2007 }}</ref> Above these elevations, there are no constantly flowing rivers since the temperature is almost always below freezing.
* The '''highest island''' is one of a number of islands in the [[Orba Co]] lake in Tibet, at an elevation of {{cvt|5209|m|0}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldislandinfo.com/SUPERLATIVESV2.html |title=Island Superlatives |access-date=7 September 2007}}</ref>

====Highest points attainable by transportation====
* The '''highest point accessible'''
**'''by land vehicle''' is an elevation of {{cvt|6688|m|ft}} on [[Ojos del Salado]] in [[Chile]], which was reached by the Chilean duo of Gonzalo and Eduardo Canales Moya on 21 April 2007 with a modified [[Suzuki Samurai]], setting the high-altitude record for a four-wheeled vehicle.
** '''by road (dead end)''' is on a mining road to the summit of [[Aucanquilcha]] in [[Chile]], which reaches an elevation of {{cvt|6176|m|ft|0}}. It was once usable by 20-tonne mining trucks.<ref>{{cite journal |last=McIntyre |first=Loren |title=The High Andes |journal=National Geographic |volume=171 |issue=4 |pages=422–460 |publisher=National Geographic Society |date=April 1987 }} (includes description and photos of [[Aucanquilcha]] summit road and mine)</ref> The road is no longer usable. {{Coord|21.214|S|68.475|W|display=inline}}
** '''by road (mountain pass)''' is disputed; there are a number of competing claims for this title due to the definition of "motorable pass" (i.e. a surfaced road or one simply passable by a vehicle):
*** The '''highest [[asphalt concrete|asphalted]] road''' is the single-lane road to [[Umling La]], located {{cvt|17|km|mi}} west of [[Demchok, Ladakh|Demchok]] in [[Ladakh]], [[India]], which reaches {{cvt|5800|m|0}} ("19,300 feet" according to a [[Border Roads Organisation]] sign there that recognizes it as the "World's Highest Motorable Pass").<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 October 2017 |title=Battle for the Highest Motorable Road |url=https://www.motoroids.com/features/battle-for-the-highest-motorable-road-which-pass-takes-you-closest-to-the-stars/ |access-date=17 October 2017 |publisher=Motoroids |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |title=China Border {{!}} Umling La Pass [ World's Highest Motorable Road ] {{!}} Ep-26 {{!}} Tripura to Ladakh Ride |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQQdyDU2EI |access-date=31 December 2022 |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Before the asphalting of the road over Umling La, the highest asphalted road was [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]]'s [[Semo La]] pass at {{cvt|5565|m|0}}. It is used by trucks and buses regularly.<ref name="icc">{{Cite web| title = ICC – Semo Khardung| author = Assumpció Térmens| website = viewfinderpanoramas.org| publisher = Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya| date = 20 March 2006| access-date = 5 February 2017| url = http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/ICCSemoKhardung.pdf| language = en}}</ref> The [[Ticlio]] pass, on the Central Road of Peru, is the highest surfaced road in the Americas, at an elevation of {{cvt|4818|m}}.
*** The '''highest unsurfaced road''' has several different claimants. All are unsurfaced or gravel roads including [[Mana Pass]], between India and [[Tibet]], which is crossed by a gravel road reaching {{cvt|5610|m|0}}. The heavily trafficked [[Khardung La]] in Ladakh lies at {{cvt|5359|m|0}}. A possibly motorable gravel road crosses [[Marsimik La]] in Ladakh at {{cvt|5582|m|0}}.
** '''by train''' is [[Tanggula Pass]], located on the [[Qinghai–Tibet Railway|Qinghai–Tibet (Qingzang) Railway]] in the [[Tanggula Mountains]] of Qinghai/Tibet, [[China]], at {{cvt|5072|m|0}}. The [[Tanggula railway station]] is the world's highest railway station at {{cvt|5068|m|0}}. Before the Qingzang Railway was built, the highest railway ran between [[Lima]] and [[Huancayo]] in Peru, reaching {{cvt|4829|m|0}} at [[Ticlio]].<ref name="highest_railway">{{cite web |title=Destination Guides – World's highest railway, Peru – Wanderlust Travel Magazine |last=Bennett |first=Suzy |publisher=Wanderlust Magazine |url=<!-- http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/article.php?page_id=510 -->http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/destinations/a-train-journey-through-the-peruvian-andes |date=October 2003 |access-date=10 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725012753/http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/destinations/a-train-journey-through-the-peruvian-andes |archive-date=25 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
** '''by oceangoing vessel''' is a segment of the [[Rhine–Main–Danube Canal]] between the [[Hilpoltstein]] and [[Neumarkt (district)|Bachhausen]] locks in [[Bavaria]], Germany. The locks artificially raise the surface level of the water in the canal to {{cvt|406|m|0}} above mean sea level, higher than any other [[lock (water navigation)|lock]] system in the world, making it the highest point currently accessible by oceangoing commercial watercraft.
[[Image:La Rinconada Peru.jpg|thumb|[[La Rinconada, Peru|La Rinconada]], [[Peru]]]]
* The '''highest commercial airport''' is [[Daocheng Yading Airport]], [[Sichuan]], China, at {{cvt|4411|m|0}}.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news |title=China opens world's highest civilian airport |author=Ben Blanchard |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-airport-idUSBRE98F0AG20130916 |newspaper=Reuters |date=16 September 2013 |access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref> The proposed [[Nagqu Dagring Airport]] in Tibet, if built, will be {{cvt|25|m|0}} higher at {{cvt|4436|m}}.
* The '''highest helipad''' is Sonam, [[Siachen Glacier]], India, at a height of {{cvt|6400|m|0}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/05/20/siachen.kashmir/ |work=CNN |title=Siachen: The world's highest cold war |date=20 May 2002 |access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>
* The '''highest permanent human settlement''' is [[La Rinconada, Peru]], {{cvt|5100|m|0}}, in the Peruvian [[Andes]].
* The '''farthest road from the Earth's centre''' is the [[Chimborazo#Huts|Road to Carrel Hut]] in the Ecuadorian [[Andes]], at an elevation of {{cvt|4850|m|0}} above sea level and a distance of {{cvt|6382.9|km|0}} from the centre of the Earth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.summitpost.org/carrel-refuge/578539 |title=Carrel refuge. |work=summitpost.org}}</ref>