Mountains are large landforms that rise significantly above their surroundings. They are elevated portions of the Earth’s crust, shaped by geological forces over millions of years. This article explores where most of the world’s mountains are located, including both land-based and underwater systems.
Global Mountain Belts
Most of Earth’s significant land-based mountain ranges are concentrated within two immense global belts. The first is the Circum-Pacific Belt, often called the Pacific Ring of Fire, which encircles the Pacific Ocean. This belt is known for its extensive volcanic activity and stretches along the western coasts of North and South America, and the eastern coasts of Asia and Australia.
The second major belt is the Alpine-Himalayan Belt, extending across Eurasia. It begins in southern Europe, sweeping eastward through the Himalayas in Asia. These two belts collectively account for the vast majority of the world’s highest and most geologically active mountain systems.
Prominent Mountain Ranges by Continent
South America hosts the Andes Mountains, the world’s longest continental range, stretching along the western edge of the continent for about 8,900 km (5,500 mi). This extensive range traverses seven countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.
North America features the Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, extending over 4,800 km (3,000 miles) from northern British Columbia, Canada, to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The Rockies pass through multiple U.S. states: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah.
Asia is home to the Himalayas, a massive range separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayas span approximately 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) and include Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. This range crosses five countries: Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, and China.
In Europe, the Alps form an arc-shaped feature stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight countries: France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia. Mont Blanc, Western Europe’s tallest mountain, is located within the Alps.
Africa’s prominent range is the Atlas Mountains, situated in Northwest Africa. This range stretches approximately 2,500 km (1,600 mi) across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, forming a natural barrier between the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Toubkal, located in central Morocco, is the highest peak in this range.
Australia’s most significant mountain system is the Great Dividing Range, running along the eastern coast of the continent. While not as high as other major ranges, it is the third-longest land-based mountain range globally.
Geological Factors Influencing Mountain Location
Mountains are primarily located due to the movement and interaction of Earth’s tectonic plates. They most commonly form at convergent plate boundaries, where two lithospheric plates move towards each other. This immense pressure causes the Earth’s crust to crumple, fold, and thicken, uplifting mountain ranges.
When two continental plates collide, neither typically subducts due to similar densities. Instead, the crust is compressed and forced upwards, creating high ranges like the Himalayas, formed from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. When an oceanic plate subducts beneath a continental plate, volcanic chains can form, such as the Andes, which resulted from the Nazca Plate subducting beneath the South American Plate.
Underwater Mountain Systems
Vast mountain systems also exist beneath the ocean’s surface. The most extensive is the Mid-Ocean Ridge system, Earth’s longest mountain range. This continuous chain extends for nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles) through all major ocean basins. Over 90 percent of this massive range lies underwater.
Mid-ocean ridges form at divergent plate boundaries, where tectonic plates pull apart. As plates separate, molten rock from Earth’s mantle rises to the seafloor, erupting and solidifying to create new oceanic crust and form the ridge. This seafloor spreading continually renews the oceanic crust.
Seamounts are another type of underwater mountain, formed from extinct volcanoes that rise significantly from the ocean floor but do not reach the surface. They can form near plate boundaries, including spreading centers and subduction zones, or above mantle plumes known as hotspots. The Hawaiian and Emperor Seamount chains in the Pacific Ocean are examples formed over a hotspot.