Second-Highest Mountain in the World: K2

K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen), at 8,611 meters (28,251 ft), is the world's second-highest peak after Everest. It straddles the China–Pakistan border in the Karakoram Range (Baltoro Muztagh). K2 is notorious for extreme technical difficulty, unpredictable weather, and high fatality rate—earning the nickname "Savage Mountain." It was first summited in 1954 by an Italian expedition (Lacedelli & Compagnoni). The summit lies in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region and China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.