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An oblique view of the Himalayas as seen from the International Space Station, 360 km (225 mi) up. The view looks south over the Tibetan Plateau and features Mt. Everest and Makalu (the 1st and 5th highest mountains in the world respectively). The image almost looks like a picture taken from an airplane until you remember that the summits of Makalu [left (8,462 m: 27,765 ft)] and Everest [center (8,849 m; 29,032 ft)] are at the heights typically flown by commercial aircraft, and could never be seen this way from an airplane. Click on photo for higher resolution. Image courtesy of NASA.
![An oblique view of the Himalayas as seen from the International Space Station, 360 km (225 mi) up. The view looks south over the Tibetan Plateau and features Mt. Everest and Makalu (the 1st and 5th highest mountains in the world respectively). The image almost looks like a picture taken from an airplane until you remember that the summits of Makalu [left (8,462 m: 27,765 ft)] and Everest [center (8,849 m; 29,032 ft)] are at the heights typically flown by commercial aircraft, and could never be seen this way from an airplane. Click on photo for higher resolution. Image courtesy of NASA.](/the-world-factbook/static/f6e89a60fcb03909870e98d026b439c5/c3638/CH_013_large.jpg)