Mount Everest is officially higher than previously thought, Nepal and China have confirmed.

(Time Magazine)

The joint announcement settles a long-running conflict over the height of the world's tallest peak that straddles the countries' shared border.

Kathmandu and Beijing each sent surveyors to the summit and agreed that the official height is 8,848.86 metres (29,031.69ft), slightly higher than previous calculations.

Nepal had never before measured the mountain, but used a 1953 calculation by the Survey of India, which includes the snow cap, to put its height at 8,848 metres (29,028ft).

Meanwhile, China counted snow in its 2005 calculation of the rock summit, which was 8,844.43 metres (29,017ft) - that's about 3.7 meters (11 feet) less than Nepal's previous estimate.

Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi announced the findings on a video call.

Climber Ashish Gurung, who was also on the call, said the news was a big deal.

(Lupni.com/Sky News)