The Himalayan mountain range is nearly 25 million years old, yet it is one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. It was formed as a result of the collision of two tectonic plates over millions of years. The Indo-Australian plate is presently colliding against the Eurasian plate at a speed of 67 millimetres per year, which means that the Himalayan mountains, the tallest in the world, are getting even taller.
The Himalayas were named by joining two Sanskrit words that mean “Abode of Snow.” People in Nepal call Mount Everest Sagarmatha, which means “Goddess of the Universe.” Mount Everest derived its English name in honour of Sir George Everest, a 19th-century Surveyor General of India.
The rivers flowing from the Himalayas were also formed millions of years ago. The Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra rivers run through South Asia; the Mekong, through Southeast Asia; and the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, through East Asia. These rivers have supported the development of dozens of civilizations over the past ten thousand years, and so the Himalayas have had an incredible impact on human life in a large part of the Asian continent.