Kanchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world (after Mount Everest and K2) with an altitude of 8,586 meters (28,169 feet).The second highest peak in Nepal. Kanchenjunga translated means The Five Treasures of Snows, as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 meters. Three of these five peaks (main, central, and south) are on the border of North Sikkim district of Sikkim, India and Taplejung District of Nepal, while the other two are completely in Taplejung District. Nepal is home to the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Project run by the World Wildlife Fund in association with Government in Nepal, the sanctuary is also home to the Red Panda and other snow animals, birds and plants. India's side of Kanchenjunga also has a protected park area called the Khangchendzonga National Park. Although Kangchenjunga is the official spelling adopted by Douglas Freshfield, A.M. Kellas, and the Royal Geographical Society that gives the best indication of the Tibetan pronunciation, there are a number of alternative spellings which include Kangchen Dzö-nga, Khangchendzonga, Kanchenjanga, Kachendzonga, Kanchenjunga or Kangchanfanga. Until 1852, Kanchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations made by the British Great Trigonometric Survey in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest (known as Peak XV at the time) was the highest and Kanchenjunga the third-highest. Kangchenjunga was first climbed on May 25, 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band of a British expedition. The British expedition honored the beliefs of the Sikkimese, who hold the summit sacred, by stopping a few feet short of the actual summit. Most successful summit parties since then have followed this tradition.
