Topographic isolation
The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks, and can even be calculated for submarine summits.
Isolation table
The following sortable table lists Earth's 40 most topographically isolated summits.| Rank | Summit | Landmass | Country | Elevation | Prominence | Isolation | Nearest higher neighbour |
| 1 | Mount Everest | Eurasia | n/a | - | - | - | |
| 2 | Aconcagua | South America | | Tirich Mir | - | - | - |
| 3 | Denali | North America | | Yanamax | - | - | - |
| 4 | Kilimanjaro | Africa | Tirich Mir | - | - | - | |
| 5 | Puncak Jaya | New Guinea | Jade Dragon Snow Mountain | - | - | - | |
| 6 | Vinson Massif | Antarctica | Risco Plateado | - | - | - | |
| 7 | Mont Orohena | Tahiti | Mount Ngauruhoe | - | - | - | |
| 8 | Mauna Kea | Hawai'i | | Mount Shasta | - | - | - |
| 9 | Gunnbjørn Fjeld | Greenland | The Eiger | - | - | - | |
| 10 | Aoraki / Mount Cook | South Island | Mount Adam | - | - | - | |
| 11 | Thabana Ntlenyana | Africa | Mount Meru | - | - | - | |
| 12 | Maunga Terevaka | Rapa Nui | Cerro de Los Inocentes | - | - | - | |
| 13 | Mont Blanc | Eurasia | - | - | - | ||
| 14 | Piton des Neiges | Réunion | Giant's Castle | - | - | - | |
| 15 | Klyuchevskaya Sopka | Eurasia | | Mount Foraker | - | - | - |
| 16 | Pico de Orizaba | North America | Pico Cristóbal Colón | - | - | - | |
| 17 | Queen Mary's Peak | Tristan da Cunha | Mount Paget | - | - | - | |
| 18 | Mount Whitney | North America | | Nevado de Toluca | - | - | - |
| 19 | Gunung Kinabalu | Borneo | Ngga Pilimsit | - | - | - | |
| 20 | Mount Elbrus | Eurasia | Pik Agasis | - | - | - | |
| 21 | Pico da Bandeira | South America | - | - | - | ||
| 22 | Mont Cameroun | Africa | Mikeno | - | - | - | |
| 23 | Mount Paget | South Georgia | Welch Mountains | - | - | - | |
| 24 | Mauga Silisili | Savai'i | Tabwemasana | - | - | - | |
| 25 | Nevado Huascarán | South America | Tres Cruces | - | - | - | |
| 26 | Anamudi | Eurasia | Machapuchare | - | - | - | |
| 27 | Jebel Toubkal | Africa | Picco Luigi Amedeo | - | - | - | |
| 28 | Mount Fuji | Honshu | Ch'ih-k'e Shan | - | - | - | |
| 29 | Emi Koussi | Africa | Mount Cameroon | - | - | - | |
| 30 | Mawson Peak | Heard Island | Mount McMaster | - | - | - | |
| 31 | Mount Mitchell | North America | | Lone Butte | - | - | - |
| 32 | Gunung Kerinci | Sumatra | Gunung Kinabalu | - | - | - | |
| 33 | Agrihan High Point | Agrihan | Mount Amagi | - | - | - | |
| 34 | Mount Kosciuszko | Australia | Tutoko | - | - | - | |
| 35 | Olavtoppen | Bouvet Island | Edinburgh Peak | - | - | - | |
| 36 | Jarvis High Point | Jarvis Island | Lata Mountain | - | - | - | |
| 37 | Mascarin Peak | Marion Island | Cockscomb | - | - | - | |
| 38 | Green Mountain | Ascension Island | Mont Richard-Molard | - | - | - | |
| 39 | Gora Narodnaya | Eurasia | Kattotjåkkå | - | - | - | |
| 40 | Yushan | Taiwan | Peak 4030, China | - | - | - |
Examples
- The nearest peak to Germany's highest mountain, the 2,962-metre-high Zugspitze, that has a 2962-metre-contour is the Zwölferkogel in Austria's Stubai Alps. The distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 km; the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 km around. Its isolation is thus 25.8 km.
- Because there are no higher mountains than Mount Everest, it has no definitive isolation. Many sources list its isolation as the circumference of the earth over the poles or – questionably, because there is no agreed definition – as half the earth's circumference.
- After Mount Everest, Aconcagua, the highest mountain of the American continents, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no higher land for 16,534 kilometres when its height is first exceeded by Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush.
- Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of the Alps. The geographically nearest higher mountains are all in the Caucasus. Kukurtlu, which rises near Mount Elbrus, is the reference peak for Mont Blanc.
- Musala is the highest peak in Rila mountain, also in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula mountain system; standing at 2,925 m it is the 4th most topographically isolated major peak in Continental Europe. With a topographic prominence of 2473 m, Musala is also the 6th highest peak by topographic prominence in mainland Europe.
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