KATHMANDU: The revised height of the world's tallest peak Mt Chomolungma -- more popularly known as Everest and Sagarmatha in Nepali -- has been revealed today.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali announced that the 'new height' of the mountain is 8848.86 metres.

Everest's revised height was officially announced by Nepali and Chinese officials, virtually.

Minister Gyawali and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi were present at the virtual programme, who read out the letters written by their respective heads-of-the-state -- President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Also present at the programme was Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Kumari Aryal.

The former height of the mountain, 8848 metres, was measured in 1954 by Survery of India.

Nepal decided to remeasure the peak after speculations that the widely accepted height might not be the actual height after the 2015 earthquake.

Officials of the government had coordinated with China, who sent its own team to measure the height of the Everest.

Nepal and China had agreed to jointly announce the revised height during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit in 2019.