Mountain Ranges of Asia

Last reviewed on 2026-10-24.

Asia is the most mountainous continent. All fourteen of the world’s peaks above 8,000 metres stand in Asia, in the Himalaya and the Karakoram, and dozens more summits exceed 7,000 metres; the highest mountain outside Asia, Aconcagua in the Andes, reaches 6,961 metres. The mountains do far more than break the skyline: they decide where rain falls, where rivers flow, where borders are drawn and where roads have to detour. Most of Asia’s great rivers begin in the same high knot of ranges around the Tibetan Plateau, and many of its deserts lie in the rain shadow of one of them. Following the major ranges in turn is one of the clearest ways to make sense of the physical map of the continent.

Major ranges at a glance

The table lists the principal ranges, their highest summit and the countries they cross. Heights are the commonly accepted figures in metres; surveys differ slightly for many peaks, and where a range’s limits are disputed (the Pamir and the Kunlun, for example) the highest peak depends on where the boundary is drawn. Russia is not one of the 49 countries covered on this site, so it is named but not linked.

The Himalaya

The Himalaya is the highest mountain range on Earth and, geologically, one of the youngest: it is still being pushed upwards by the collision of the Indian plate with Eurasia, which began around 50 million years ago. The range runs roughly 2,400 kilometres in an arc from Nanga Parbat in the west to Namcha Barwa, where the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) cuts through it in the east, forming the northern frontier of the Indian subcontinent and the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.

Ten of the fourteen eight-thousanders are Himalayan: Everest (8,849 m, on the Nepal–China border; the figure is the joint Nepal–China survey of 2020), Kangchenjunga (8,586 m, Nepal–India), Lhotse (8,516 m), Makalu (8,485 m), Cho Oyu (8,188 m), Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), Manaslu (8,163 m), Nanga Parbat (8,126 m, Pakistan), Annapurna I (8,091 m) and Shishapangma (8,027 m, the only one entirely within China). Eight of the ten are wholly or partly in Nepal. The other countries with Himalayan territory are India, Bhutan, China (mainly the Tibet Autonomous Region) and Pakistan; Bhutan’s highest peak, Gangkhar Puensum (about 7,570 m), is often described as the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, because the country has banned mountaineering on its highest peaks.

The Himalaya is also the hinge of the South Asian monsoon. Moist air from the Indian Ocean rises against the southern slopes and drops most of its rain there, so that the plains of Bangladesh and north-east India are among the wettest places on Earth while the Tibetan Plateau, only a few hundred kilometres north, is a cold, high desert. Himalayan glaciers and snowfields feed the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra; see rivers of Asia.

The Karakoram

North-west of the Himalaya, the Karakoram is shorter, about 500 kilometres long, but even more concentrated in height. It holds the other four eight-thousanders — K2 (8,611 m, on the border between China and the Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit-Baltistan), Gasherbrum I (8,080 m), Broad Peak (8,051 m) and Gasherbrum II (8,035 m) — and some of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions, including the Siachen, Biafo and Baltoro glaciers. The range crosses Pakistan, China and India, and much of it lies within the wider Kashmir region, whose borders are disputed: India, Pakistan and China each administer parts of it, and the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Control both run through these mountains. The Karakoram Highway, completed in 1979, crosses the range between Pakistan and China at the Khunjerab Pass, about 4,700 metres above sea level.

The Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush runs for about 800 kilometres from central Afghanistan north-east into northern Pakistan, where Tirich Mir (7,708 m) is its highest summit; Noshaq (7,492 m), on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is the highest point of Afghanistan. The range divides the Amu Darya basin in the north from the Kabul and Helmand river basins in the south, and passes such as the Salang (now tunnelled) carry the main road between Kabul and northern Afghanistan. The Khyber Pass, the historic gateway between Afghanistan and the plains of Pakistan, lies further south-east in the Spin Ghar (Safed Koh) hills rather than in the Hindu Kush proper.

The Wakhan Corridor, the narrow strip of Afghan territory between Tajikistan and Pakistan that reaches east to the border with China, runs between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir. It took its shape from Anglo-Russian agreements of 1873 and 1895, which left a buffer of Afghan land so that the British and Russian empires would not share a border.

The Pamir

The Pamir is the high knot where the Himalaya–Karakoram system, the Hindu Kush, the Kunlun and the Tian Shan converge. Most of it lies in Tajikistan, where the Gorno-Badakhshan region covers roughly 45 per cent of the country, with the rest in Afghanistan, China and Kyrgyzstan. Much of the plateau lies above 4,000 metres, and its Persian name, Bam-i-Dunya, is usually translated as the “roof of the world”. Ismoil Somoni Peak (7,495 m), the highest point of the former Soviet Union, and Lenin Peak (7,134 m), on the Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan border, are its best-known summits. The Fedchenko Glacier, about 77 kilometres long, is usually cited as the longest glacier outside the polar regions. The Pamir Highway, one of the highest international roads in the world, crosses the range from Dushanbe to Osh.

The Tian Shan

The Tian Shan (“heavenly mountains” in Chinese) runs about 2,800 kilometres east–west across Kyrgyzstan and south-eastern Kazakhstan deep into the Xinjiang region of China, with its western spurs reaching into Uzbekistan. It separates the Dzungarian Basin and the Kazakh steppe from the Tarim Basin to the south. Its highest peaks, Jengish Chokusu (7,439 m) and Khan Tengri (about 7,010 m including its ice cap), stand close to the point where Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China meet. Most of Kyrgyzstan is Tian Shan mountain country, and the high lake of Issyk-Kul lies in a basin between its ranges. The Tian Shan feeds the Syr Darya (through its headwater, the Naryn), the Chu and the Ili, which water Almaty, Bishkek and Tashkent and the irrigated Fergana Valley. The Chinese part of the range was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, and the western Tian Shan in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in 2016.

The Kunlun and the Tibetan Plateau

The Kunlun Mountains form the northern rim of the Tibetan Plateau and are among the longest ranges in Asia, stretching more than 3,000 kilometres across western China from the Pamir to Qinghai. They separate the plateau from the Taklamakan Desert and the Tarim Basin to the north. Between the Kunlun and the Himalaya lies the Tibetan Plateau itself, the largest and highest plateau in the world, with an average elevation above 4,000 metres. The Yangtze, Yellow River, Mekong and Salween all rise on it. Aksai Chin, a high, almost uninhabited plateau at the western end of the Kunlun, is administered by China and claimed by India.

The Hengduan Mountains and the Qinling

Where the Tibetan Plateau drops eastwards into Sichuan and Yunnan, the Hengduan Mountains run north–south in tight parallel ridges. Between them, the Salween, Mekong and Yangtze flow side by side through deep gorges, an area protected as the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan World Heritage Site. Gongga Shan (7,556 m) in Sichuan is the highest peak. Further north-east, the lower Qinling Mountains run east–west across central China; the Qinling–Huai River line is the conventional boundary between northern China (wheat, cold winters) and southern China (rice, mild winters).

The Altai

The Altai rises where China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia meet. Its highest peak, Belukha (4,506 m), stands on the Russia–Kazakhstan border, and the Mongolian Altai extends south-east into western Mongolia, where Khüiten Peak (about 4,370 m) on the China–Mongolia border is Mongolia’s highest point. The range is cold and snowy, with taiga forest on its lower slopes, and is one of the strongholds of the snow leopard and the argali, the largest wild sheep. The Irtysh rises on its southern side in China, and the Biya and Katun, which join to form the Ob, rise on the Russian side.

The Caucasus

The Caucasus fills the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Greater Caucasus, the main chain, forms most of Russia’s borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan. Its highest peak, Elbrus (5,642 m), lies just north of the watershed in Russia; whether it counts as Europe’s highest mountain depends on where the Europe–Asia boundary is drawn. Georgia’s highest point is Shkhara (about 5,200 m) and Azerbaijan’s is Bazardüzü (4,466 m). South of it, the lower Lesser Caucasus runs through southern Georgia, Armenia and western Azerbaijan; Armenia’s highest point is Mount Aragats (4,090 m), an extinct volcanic massif. The region has long been a linguistic refuge, home to three language families found nowhere else — Kartvelian (including Georgian), Northwest Caucasian and Northeast Caucasian — alongside Armenian, Azerbaijani and others; see languages of Asia.

The Iranian ranges: Zagros, Alborz and Kopet Dag

The Zagros runs for roughly 1,500 kilometres from south-eastern Turkey and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq south-east along western and southern Iran to the Strait of Hormuz. Its folded limestone ridges hold the oil fields of south-western Iran and northern Iraq, and its rivers, including the Karun and the Tigris tributaries of the Great Zab, Little Zab and Diyala, water the plains below. Its highest summits, such as Dena, reach about 4,400 metres.

Along Iran’s Caspian coast, the Alborz rises steeply from sea level to Damavand (about 5,610 m), a dormant volcano and the highest peak in West Asia; Tehran sits on its southern foothills. The humid, forested Caspian slopes contrast sharply with the dry plateau on the other side. In the north-east, the Kopet Dag forms much of the border between Iran and Turkmenistan, with Ashgabat at its foot. Enclosed by these ranges, the Iranian plateau is largely high and dry; its basins hold the Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts (see deserts of Asia).

Anatolia, the Levant and Arabia

Turkey is largely a high plateau rimmed by mountains: the Pontic Mountains along the Black Sea coast in the north, the Taurus Mountains parallel to the Mediterranean in the south, and the Armenian Highlands in the east, where Mount Ararat (5,137 m), the country’s highest point, stands close to the borders with Armenia and Iran. The Tigris and Euphrates both rise in these eastern highlands.

In the Levant, the Mount Lebanon range runs parallel to the coast of Lebanon, reaching 3,088 metres at Qurnat as Sawda’, and the Anti-Lebanon range follows the Lebanon–Syria border, ending in the south at Mount Hermon (2,814 m). Lower hills continue south through Israel, Palestine and Jordan on either side of the Jordan Rift Valley. In Arabia, the Hejaz, Asir and Sarawat mountains run along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia into Yemen, where Jabal an-Nabi Shu’ayb (3,666 m) is the highest point of the Arabian Peninsula. In the far east of the peninsula, the Hajar Mountains of Oman and the United Arab Emirates rise to about 3,000 metres at Jebel Shams.

South Asia beyond the Himalaya

Peninsular India has its own, much older mountains. The Western Ghats run about 1,600 kilometres down the west coast, catching the monsoon so heavily that their seaward slopes are among the wettest and most biodiverse places in Asia; they were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, and Anamudi (2,695 m) in Kerala is their highest point. The lower, more broken Eastern Ghats follow the east coast, while the Aravalli Range in Rajasthan is one of the oldest fold mountain belts on Earth. In Sri Lanka, the central highlands rise to Pidurutalagala (2,524 m), with Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada), a pilgrimage site for Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians, nearby. In western Pakistan, the Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges separate the Indus plain from the Balochistan plateau.

Southeast Asia

Mainland Southeast Asia is ribbed by north–south ranges that fan out from the eastern end of the Himalaya. Hkakabo Razi in northern Myanmar, usually given as 5,881 metres, is the highest peak in Southeast Asia. The Arakan (Rakhine) Mountains separate Myanmar’s coast from the Irrawaddy valley, the Shan Hills and the Tenasserim Hills run along its border with Thailand, and Doi Inthanon (2,565 m) is Thailand’s highest point. The Annamite Range forms much of the border between Laos and Vietnam, while Fansipan (about 3,140 m) in the Hoang Lien Son range of northern Vietnam is the highest peak of Indochina.

Maritime Southeast Asia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other country, including Merapi on Java and Krakatoa (Anak Krakatau) in the Sunda Strait, and Puncak Jaya (4,884 m) in its Papua region on New Guinea is the highest island peak in the world. Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m) in Sabah is the highest mountain in Malaysia and on Borneo, and in the Philippines Mount Apo (2,954 m) on Mindanao is the highest point, while Mayon (2,462 m) on Luzon is known for its near-perfect volcanic cone.

Japan, Korea and Taiwan

Mountains cover about three-quarters of Japan. The Hida, Kiso and Akaishi ranges of central Honshu are known together as the Japanese Alps, with peaks above 3,000 metres such as Kita-dake (3,193 m). Mount Fuji (3,776 m), Japan’s highest point, is a separate, active stratovolcano about 100 kilometres south-west of Tokyo that last erupted in 1707. On the Korean Peninsula, the Taebaek Mountains run down the east coast through North Korea and South Korea; the peninsula’s highest peak, Paektu (Baekdu) Mountain (2,744 m), is a volcano on the North Korea–China border, and Hallasan (1,947 m) on Jeju Island is South Korea’s highest. Taiwan is unusually high for its size: its central ranges include more than 200 peaks above 3,000 metres, and Yushan (3,952 m) is higher than Mount Fuji.

How mountains shape the rest of the map

• Borders. Many of Asia’s international boundaries follow mountain watersheds: much of the China–Nepal and China–Bhutan border runs along the Himalayan crest, part of the Iran–Iraq border tracks the Zagros, the Greater Caucasus separates Russia from Georgia and Azerbaijan, and Vietnam’s borders with Laos and China follow upland ridges. Mountain borders are also where several of the continent’s long-running territorial disputes lie, including those over Kashmir and along the China–India frontier.
• Rivers. The Tibetan Plateau, the Pamir and the surrounding ranges send water in every direction: the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus to the south, the Yangtze and Yellow River to the east, the Mekong and Salween to the south-east, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya to the west, and the Tarim into the interior. See the rivers of Asia page.
• Climate. The same ranges create sharp contrasts between humid windward slopes and dry rain-shadow basins: Tibet behind the Himalaya, the Tarim Basin inside the Tian Shan, Kunlun and Pamir, and central Iran behind the Alborz and Zagros.
• Settlement. Capitals and major cities cluster at the foot of the mountains, where rivers leave the uplands and trade routes funnel through passes: Kabul, Tashkent, Bishkek, Almaty, Tehran, Ashgabat and Tbilisi all sit beside mountain ranges, and Kathmandu and Thimphu lie in valleys within the Himalaya itself.

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest mountain range in Asia?

The Himalaya. It contains Mount Everest (8,849 m), the highest mountain on Earth, and ten of the world’s fourteen peaks above 8,000 metres. The other four are in the neighbouring Karakoram.

How many 8,000-metre peaks are there in Asia?

Fourteen, and they are the only ones in the world. Ten are in the Himalaya (in Nepal, China, India and Pakistan) and four are in the Karakoram (on the China–Pakistan border). K2, at 8,611 m, is the highest of the Karakoram group.

What is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia?

Hkakabo Razi in northern Myanmar, usually given as 5,881 m. On the islands, Puncak Jaya (4,884 m) in Indonesia’s Papua region is the highest peak.

Which mountains separate Europe and Asia?

By the most widely used convention, the boundary follows the Ural Mountains in Russia, the Ural River and the Caspian Sea, then either the Greater Caucasus or the Kuma–Manych Depression north of it. Because sources differ on the Caucasus section, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are sometimes described as transcontinental.

Which country in Asia is the most mountainous?

Bhutan, Nepal, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are the most mountainous countries in Asia: Tajikistan is more than 90 per cent mountains, and Bhutan and Nepal rise from subtropical lowlands to Himalayan peaks within about 150 to 250 kilometres.

For more on the countries these ranges cross, browse the regions: South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia. The main Asia map shows every country in context, and the highest mountain in Asia page answers that question in brief.