Chinese surveyors have discovered that the world's tallest mountain is smaller than previously thought.
A spokesman for the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said Sunday that the height of Mount Everest at 8,844.43 meters is nearly four meters (3.7 meters) shorter than the bureau's last measurement in 1975. The new survey was carried out in May.
Officials say the data does not mean the mountain shrank in the last 30 years, but that previous Chinese measurements were less accurate.
The new listed height is also less than a measurement by U.S. scientists made in 1999 at 8,850 meters by about 5.5 meters.
Everest's peak lies on the border between China and Nepal. The mountain is known in China as Mount Qomolangma.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.