Nepal seeks to settle argument over Everest's official height once and for all

Everest, as everyone knows, is the world's tallest mountain and seeing the magnificent natural landmark up close is one of the highlights of travelling around Asia.

But most people may not realise that, even in the 21st century, the exact height of Everest is up for dispute.

Bordering Nepal and China-ruled Tibet, most countries recognise the official height of the mountain at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft).

However, China disputes this, arguing that it is in fact 4m shorter as it should be measured according to the maximum height of the rock and not including the layer of snow on top.

Although four metres seems like a trivial difference, the issue has been the basis of a long-running dispute between Nepal and China.

Now the former aims to settle the debate once and for all by organising an internationally assisted survey of the mountain to establish an exact, indisputable measurement.

The three-year project has already got underway, but Nepal is appealing for additional outside funding, expertise and equipment to complete the job.

"Since we lack the capacity to do the job on our own, we are preparing a project plan with the request for donors and we will soon be sending them out," Krishna Raj BC, director general of Nepal's Survey Department, told BBC News.

"We basically need data from gravity instruments, levelling points and the global positioning system (GPS) to get a complete picture.

"For all these technologies to work, first there has to be infrastructure in places like the Everest base camp, and then we need to mobilise Sherpas up and down the mountain with someone who can handle all those technologies."

China is not the only country to dispute the official height given to Everest by Nepal - in 1999 an American team used GPS technology to record a height of 8,850 metres and this is the figure now used by the US National Geographic Society.