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Countries with the Most Ascents of Mount Everest

Can you name the countries of the world whose citizens have reached the summit of Mt. Everest the greatest number of times?
Through 25 Apr 2017. Source.
Quiz by interopia
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Last updated: December 22, 2019
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First submittedMay 29, 2017
Times taken45,583
Average score85.0%
Rating4.94
3:00
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Ascents
Country
3620
Nepal
727
United States
435
China
385
United Kingdom
347
India
214
Japan
171
Russia
Ascents
Country
129
South Korea
120
Canada
115
France
105
Australia
98
Spain
93
New Zealand
78
Italy
Ascents
Country
75
Germany
68
Switzerland
53
Mexico
51
Austria
50
Poland
42
Norway
+8
Level 68
Dec 23, 2019
Nice quiz! Suprised on Austria and South Korea is on the list
+62
Level 82
Dec 23, 2019
Austria really isn't, it's an Alpine country with a long mountaineering tradition
+20
Level 81
Dec 29, 2019
Koreans love mountain climbing. I spend my life trying to avoid it, not always successfully. (I live in Korea, and I'm Korean.)
+4
Level 65
Aug 17, 2022
I'm more surprised by Mexico.
+2
Level 32
Sep 29, 2023
Also, just to let you know, South Korea is generally mountainous
+6
Level 85
Dec 23, 2019
+5
Level 85
Sep 13, 2020
+1
Level 68
Dec 23, 2019
Wow australia and new zealand
+17
Level 78
Dec 27, 2019
Sir Edmund Hillary (first person to scale Everest) was from New Zealand
+15
Level 71
Jan 18, 2020
Please don't forget Tenzing Norgay. I believe he may have been with Hillary? Am I wrong?
+13
Level 71
Feb 23, 2020
You are correct, and not let us forget that the British Expedition to climb Mt. Everest was led by John Hunt and 10 other British climbers, 2 New Zealanders and 2 Sherpas. There was also 150 Nepalese porters who helped to carry the equipment up to the lower stages. Hillary and Norgay were lucky enough to be given the OK for the final assault after the high base camps had been set up by other climbers. Not enough thanks was given to all those involved as the 'Stars' of the show have kept very quiet.
+13
Level 68
Feb 23, 2020
Hillary and Norgay made a pact to not tell anyone who actually summited first. Many years later, Norgay revealed in his book it was, in fact, Hillary who stepped on the summit first. But of course they did it together.
+7
Level 66
Feb 26, 2020
The point of the comment was to explain that New Zealand is a not surprising entry on this list, not to give credit to everyone who made the climb. Norgay is entirely irrelevant here.

It's fashionable now to cram previously-forgotten minorities into every conversation, like some sort of verbal tic: if there's a mention of Edmund Hillary, the virtue signalers rush to bring up Tenzig Norgay, if Watson and Crick come up we must immediately hear of Rosalind Franklin, etc. Norgay, Franklin, and (many of) the rest of them are certainly worth knowing about in their context, but the effort to dilute all historical claims of great men is absurd. Norgay wasn't a New Zealander; bringing him up here is, at best, thoughtless.

+8
Level 68
Mar 6, 2020
No one is trying to be fashionable here. Just giving credit where credit is due in the discussion about the first person to summit Everest (which was two people: Hillary and Norgay).
+4
Level 82
Dec 4, 2021
Won't somebody please think of the white men! /s
+4
Level 77
May 29, 2022
I’m going to be controversial here… I don’t care who got up the mountain first. It’s a stupid feat that accomplished nothing important. Hilary was not a great man… he had hundreds of people help him walk up a tall hill, do nothing of consequence, and walk back down again.
+2
Level 76
Feb 27, 2024
If you don't care, why are you making negative comments about how much it doesn't matter? You come off as bitter, infantile and, frankly, somewhat b*tthurt for some reason.

Truth is, importance is a human measure, and therefore subjective. If society in general considers this feat important, then yes, it is, even if you disagree. Saying things like "tall hill" to minimize the achievement makes you come off as clueless and/or spiteful. With enough cynicism, one can underestimate anything and everything, and that is the death of meaning.

Also, the "they had help" argument is nonsense. No one ever in the whole of history has done anything alone without having had some help previously in some way. Ever. No man is an island.

+24
Level 52
Feb 16, 2020
I'm so glad the Nepal sherpas are acknowledged in this quiz.
+1
Level 68
Feb 23, 2020
Of course.
+3
Level 74
Feb 23, 2020
Viva México!
+2
Level 71
Feb 23, 2020
I'm surprised how New Zealand has almost as many ascents as Australia.
+7
Level 68
Feb 23, 2020
Many more mountains in NZ than Australia (and much higher - there are well over 100 mountains in NZ higher than Australia's highest mountain) so maybe more interest in mountain climbing.
+22
Level 64
Feb 23, 2020
RIP my uncle who died in 2009 while ascending
+4
Level 55
Feb 23, 2020
;( <3
+1
Level 69
Feb 23, 2020
Sorry about your loss, that's sad :(
+1
Level 68
Feb 23, 2020
I *swear* I guessed Australia!!! Did I somehow manage to misspell it?! I hate it so much when that happens
+1
Level 50
Feb 23, 2020
Ugh I had norw typed in and just ran out of time. Unfortunate 19/20
+2
Level 63
Feb 23, 2020
Would have expected Fiji to have at least been top ten.
+15
Level 82
Feb 23, 2020
For Nepal that's just like their commute to work, though.
+7
Level 19
Sep 15, 2021
Yes, as a Nepali I can confirm that Everest is in our backyard and we all have atleast once been there.
+1
Level 82
May 29, 2022
not all of you... but for the sherpas who work as guides for other crazy people, that is their job.
+4
Level 64
Sep 29, 2023
Never expected Kal to get wooooshed.
+2
Level 68
Oct 6, 2023
It's pretty common, according to everyone but him.
+1
Level 58
Feb 24, 2020
Surprisingly easy. Good job on the quiz, anyway!
+1
Level 67
Feb 24, 2020
1:42 remaining
+5
Level 60
Feb 25, 2020
I'm intrigued by the social dynamic this represents - more money than sense? Too much time on their hands?
+3
Level 76
Sep 29, 2023
I think GDP per capita, having big mountains in the home country and a high population are the biggest factors
+1
Level 66
Jul 1, 2020
Can't believe I've got them all in 1:35 first try. Nice quiz!
+1
Level 78
Oct 6, 2020
Missed one. Nice idea for a quiz and very enlightening.
+1
Level 44
Mar 10, 2021
Anyone else surprised that Canada and Russia weren't higher?
+1
Level 71
Mar 14, 2021
Not sure about Russia, but why do you expect Canada be higher? Canada is comparable to the United States in terms of all of the factors that may influence mountain climbing (landscape, wealth, geographic size, etc.) but it has a way smaller population, so it's completely expected for it to have way fewer Mt. Everest climbers than the US. As a matter of fact, if you measured per capita (although measuring something like this per capita might be silly), Canada would be ahead of America.
+1
Level 59
Nov 17, 2021
Mexico, South Korea and Poland surprised me a little. New Zealand would probably too if I haven't known better, rest was educated guess.
+1
Level 47
Dec 22, 2021
Mountaineering is huge in Poland for some reason.
+1
Level 47
Dec 22, 2021
Only one I didn't get was New Zealand, doh!
+2
Level 77
Aug 16, 2022
oh man...that was the first one i tried since that's where Hillary was from.
+1
Level 47
May 3, 2022
fun quiz, got them all first try
+1
Level 89
May 29, 2022
Same here
+1
Level 41
May 31, 2022
I wrote: Tibet.

It appeared as China.

Please fix this.

+3
Level 55
Sep 30, 2022
I'm assuming that Tibet's ascents are counted as China since Tibet is part of China.
+1
Level 76
Sep 29, 2023
Quizmaster AND you are going straight to the camps for this
+2
Level 75
Apr 23, 2023
Australia, Mexico, and Poland were the ones that surprised me the most. Wonder why Austria and Switzerland were less frequently answered since they are literally Alpine countries. Same with Norway, they have a lot of mountains. Not as tall as Everest of course, but they are used to mountain climbing.
+2
Level 58
Sep 25, 2023
I was missing Austria and Switzerland and then remembered about the Alps.
+1
Level 66
Sep 29, 2023
Exactly why I tried Liechtenstein and Monaco.
+1
Level 64
Sep 29, 2023
You can't be on this list when your entire population is smaller than the other countries' numbers.
+1
Level 67
Sep 29, 2023
Got Norway with 38 seconds remaining