The Himalayas are called the roof of the world. The tallest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest, at 29,028 feet, is ones of 14 peaks in the Himalayan chain. The Himalayas stretch 1,550 miles from China to Afghanistan. More than 40 million people live in the Himalayan regions. Among them are sherpas, people of Nepal, who help to guide climbers up Mount Everest. A chapter discusses the record-setting climb of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay. Students will also read that it is a Hindu belief that these mountains are the abode of gods.