Annapurna, << `an` uh PUR nuh, >> a small range of mountains within the Himalaya, includes some of the highest peaks in the world. The range stands in north-central Nepal. Its highest peak, known as Annapurna I, rises 26,504 feet (8,078 meters). The Nepalese call this snowy peak the Goddess of the Harvests because they believe it watches over the farms below. In 1950, a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog climbed it. Until the conquest of Mount Everest in 1953, Annapurna was the highest mountain people had climbed.
