The official height of the world's highest mountain Mount Everest has increased by over 2 feet and is now taller than it was when its height was last calculated, Nepal and China have announced together.

According to the BBC, until recently, Nepal and China had a difference of opinion over whether the snow cap should be included. Now, the official height of Mount Everest is 29,032ft.

China's previous official measurement of 29,017ft meant that its measurement was about 13ft less than Nepal's.

Everest is situated on the border of China and Nepal and mountain climbers climb it from both sides.

DINGRI, CHINA - AUGUST 26, 2020 - JIAWULA mountain pass is one of the most famous observation platforms for photographing Mount Everest. In the distance, there are four Himalayan peaks with an altitude of more than 8000 meters. Their order from left to right is: Makalu, Luozi, Qomolangma, zhuo'you, Dingri County, Tibet, China, August 26, 2020. (Photo by Peng Huan / Costfoto/Sipa USA) [[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

It has been reported that authorities at Nepal's foreign ministry and department of survey confirmed that surveyors from both nations agreed on the new measurement.

This agreement to announce the new height in unison was made as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu in 2019.

Previously, Chinese officials had said the world's highest point should be measured to its rock height, while authorities in Nepal believed the snow on top of the summit should be added.

Surveyors from China made their calculations after measuring Mount Everest back in 2005.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

Nepalese officials told the BBC in 2012 that they felt pressure from their neighbor to concede the country's height and so opted to go for a new measurement to "set the record straight once and for all".

The height Nepal had used for Mount Everest was brought about by the Survey of India in 1954, but for the first time, it has now made its own calculation.

Four land surveyors from Nepal trained for the mission for two years, before heading to the summit.

"Before this, we had never done the measurement ourselves," Damodar Dhakal, a spokesman at Nepal's department of survey, told the BBC.

December 8, 2020, Solukhumbu, Nepal: File photo shows the view of Mount Everest during sunset in Solukhumbu, Nepal. Nepal and China have jointly announced a new official height for Mount Everest, as 8,848.86 meters (29,032 feet),on Dec. 8, 2020. (Credit Image: © Sunil Sharma/ZUMA Wire) [[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]

"Now that we have a young, technical team [who could also go to the Everest summit], we could do it on our own," Mr Dhakal said.

"For summiteers, scaling the highest peak means a great accomplishment. For us, it was just the beginning," Nepal's lead surveyor Khimlal Gautam had told BBC Nepali after his return.

"Unlike other surveys of the Everest in the past, we chose 03:00 to minimize errors that could have been caused because of sunlight in the day time."

Mount Everest has increased in height by over 2 feet, China and Nepal announce