Elevation of Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu elevation at a glance

Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, fills the floor of the Kathmandu Valley together with the old royal cities of Lalitpur (Patan) and Bhaktapur. The valley was a lake in prehistoric times, and its flat floor of old lake sediments lies at around 1,300–1,400 m. Hills rise on every side: Shivapuri to the north and Phulchowki to the south-east climb to more than 2,500 m, and on clear winter days the snow peaks of the Langtang and Ganesh Himal ranges are visible beyond them. The Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers cut shallow valleys through the city, so the temples on the river banks lie a little lower than the old squares of Durbar Square and Thamel.

Lower than many expect

Many trekkers expect Kathmandu to be high in the mountains, but it lies lower than Denver, Nairobi or Johannesburg. Air pressure is about 15 % lower than at sea level and altitude sickness is not a concern in the city itself. That changes quickly on a trek: Lukla, the airstrip for the Everest region, is at about 2,850 m, and Everest Base Camp is at over 5,300 m, almost four kilometres above the valley.

Earthquakes and the ground

The Himalaya are still being pushed up by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. In the earthquake of 25 April 2015, geodetic measurements showed that parts of the area around Kathmandu were lifted by up to about a metre, while Everest itself sank slightly. An elevation model is a snapshot from the year it was recorded, so in an active mountain belt the ground can differ from the data by a small amount.

How to find the elevation of a place in Kathmandu

1. The map opens on the city point and shows its elevation in the panel.
2. Search for another place or zoom in to the street, park or plot you want.
3. Click the exact spot; each click adds a point with its height in metres and feet.
4. Switch to feet if you prefer, copy the share link, or download the points as CSV or GeoJSON.

The map opens on the GeoNames point for Kathmandu and reads its height straight away. Heights come from the open Terrain Tiles dataset and are read in your browser; nothing is uploaded. A city has no single elevation: the number depends on the spot, so the values on this page are a guide, and official heights come from the national mapping agency. Read more in how to find the elevation of a location.