Asia Pacific Regional Reference Map: Elevation and Bathymetry

Elevation and Bathymetry

The region is home to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepal and Chomolungma in China) at 8,848m, as well as the deepest surveyed point in the oceans,
Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench at 10,911m.

The Pacific Ocean is the Earth's largest water body, covering a third of its surface and containing more islands and reefs than all other oceans and seas combined, the result of undersea volcanic mountains whose eroded summits from the ocean's many island arcs, chains and clusters. Most notable among these are the hundreds of active volcanoes that make up the Pacific Ring of Fire. The total number of islands in the Pacific is unknown, but estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 and mostly located in the south and west. Among these islands are some of the world's largest, including Borneo, Sumatra and New Guinea.

The main Asian landmass has the highest mean elevation of any continent at 950m, peaking in the high Tibetan Plateau. To the northwest of these mountain chains lie the plains of central Asia, while to the south are the Indian subcontinent and Malay peninsula.