New measurements show Mount Everest is taller than ever before

Mount Everest just got a little bit taller.

China and Nepal have been embroiled in a controversy over the world’s tallest peak’s actual height for more than a decade. Both countries share a border around Mount Everest.

On Tuesday, the countries announced a new official measurement of the mountain’s height, stating that it is now 8,848.86 meters (29,031.69 feet) tall

This is less than a meter higher than the previously recorded height.

The agreement between China and Nepal marked the end to a long-running debate over the precise dimensions of the mountain, known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet.

The announcement — which was broadcast live on national television in Nepal — is the culmination of an exhaustive process involving two trips to the summit and years of measurements to calculate Everest’s precise height above sea level.

Experts say that Tuesday’s figure is likely to become the standard height for Everest.

“It will be difficult to improve on the new number,” The Washington Post quoted Roger Bilham, a geologist at the University of Colorado, as saying. The measurements taken by Nepal are “remarkable for their density.”

Chinese authorities had previously said that Mount Everest should be measured to its rock height, while Nepalese authorities argued the snow on top of the summit should be included.

BBC reported that some geologists have suggested a major earthquake in Nepal in 2015 may have had an impact on Mount Everest's height. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and caused an avalanche which buried parts of the base camp at the mountain. At least 18 climbers were killed.