List of longest mountain chains on Earth - wikipedia List of longest mountain chains on Earth The Andes range consist of hundreds of mountain peaks. The world 's longest above - water mountain range is the Andes, about 7,000 km ( 4,300 mi ) long. The range stretches from north to south through seven countries in South America, along the west coast of the continent : Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Aconcagua is the highest peak, at about 6,962 m ( 22,841 ft ). This list does not include submarine mountain ranges. If submarine mountains are included, the longest is the global mid-ocean ridge system which extends for about 65,000 km ( 40,000 mi ). Contents 1 Formation 2 List 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Formation Mountain chains are typically formed by the process of plate tectonics. Tectonic plates slide very slowly over the Earth 's mantle, a lower place of rock that is heated from the Earth 's interior. Several huge sections of the earth 's crust are impelled by heat currents in the mantle, producing tremendous forces that can buckle the material at the edges of the plates to form mountains. Usually one plate is forced underneath the other, and the lower plate is slowly absorbed by the mantle. Where the two plates pass one another, heated rock from the mantle can burst through the crust to form volcanoes. The movement of the plates against one another can also cause earthquakes. List Rank Range Continent Country Approx. length Approx. width Max. elevation Highest point Andes South America Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia Ecuador Peru Venezuela 32 ° S 70 ° W ﻿ / ﻿ 32 ° S 70 ° W ﻿ / - 32 ; - 70 7,000 km ( 4,350 mi ) 500 km ( 300 mi ) 6,962 m ( 22,841 ft ) Mount Aconcagua Southern Great Escarpment Africa Zimbabwe South Africa Swaziland Lesotho Namibia Angola 29 ° S 29 ° E ﻿ / ﻿ 29 ° S 29 ° E ﻿ / - 29 ; 29 5,000 km ( 3,100 mi ) 300 km ( 200 mi ) 3,482 m ( 11,424 ft ) Thabana Ntlenyana Rocky Mountains North America Canada United States 39 ° N 106 ° W ﻿ / ﻿ 39 ° N 106 ° W ﻿ / 39 ; - 106 4,800 km ( 3,000 mi ) 300 km ( 200 mi ) 4,401 m ( 14,440 ft ) Mount Elbert Transantarctic Mountains Antarctica Antarctica 84 ° S 166 ° E ﻿ / ﻿ 84 ° S 166 ° E ﻿ / - 84 ; 166 3,542 km ( 2,200 mi ) 400 km ( 250 mi ) 4,528 m ( 14,856 ft ) Mount Kirkpatrick 5 Great Dividing Range Australia Australia 36 ° S 148 ° E ﻿ / ﻿ 36 ° S 148 ° E ﻿ / - 36 ; 148 3,059 km ( 1,900 mi ) 650 km ( 400 mi ) 2,228 m ( 7,310 ft ) Mount Kosciuszko 6 Himalayas Asia Bhutan India Nepal Pakistan Afghanistan China Myanmar 27 ° N 86 ° E ﻿ / ﻿ 27 ° N 86 ° E ﻿ / 27 ; 86 2,576 km ( 1,600 mi ) 350 km ( 220 mi ) 8,848 m ( 29,029 ft ) Mount Everest See also List of mountain ranges List of mountains Continent References Jump up ^ Andes Mountains by Alan W. / Knapp Gregory. 1999 Retrieve 2002 Jump up ^ Windows to Universe The Andes Mountains by : Julia Genyuk. Retrieve 17 November 2008 Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica `` Great Escarpment '' by : Encyclopædia Britannica ( undated ) Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Article The Great Escarpment of southern Africa : a new frontier for biodiversity by V. Ralph Clark, Nigel P. Barker and Laco Mucina Retrieve 2015 Jump up ^ Biodiversity and Conservation ) Jump up ^ USA tourist Rocky Mountain National Park by : Mike Leco ( undated ) Jump up ^ Tour Guide Article Rocky Mountain National Park by John William Uhler Retrieve 2007 Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Rocky Mountains By Armand J. Eardley / Richard A. Marston Jump up ^ Antarctic Connection The Transantarctic Mountains Archived 2011 - 04 - 15 at the Wayback Machine. ( undated ) Jump up ^ Aaron Martin TAM - The Transantarctic Mountains Retrieve 4 / 7 / 02. Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Article - Online Transantarctic Mountains Retrieve 22 march 2011 Jump up ^ Australian Explorer Australian Travel Information - Great Dividing Range Jump up ^ Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia - Great Dividing Range 1998 Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Great Dividing Range Jump up ^ Great Dividing Range The Columbia Encyclopedia, Retrieve 2008 Jump up ^ Travel Himalayas The legendary majestic Beauty - Himalayan Mountain Range Jump up ^ Himalayan Mountain Himalaya, A dream for all explorers Jump up ^ Explore Himalayan Mountain Ranges of Himalayas External links Longest mountain range in the world The Andes - Introduction Arranging Ranges : Mountain Ranges of the World Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_longest_mountain_chains_on_Earth&oldid=824145179 '' Categories : Mountain ranges Lists of mountains Lists of superlatives Geography - related lists Geology - related lists Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Edit links This page was last edited on 5 February 2018, at 16 : 07. About Wikipedia

Question: which is the largest mountain range in the world
Answer: the Andes