About

• The formation of International Mountain Day dates back to 1992 when Agenda 21 "Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development" was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. 
• Seeing the increasing attention towards the importance of mountains, the UN General Assembly declared in 2002 the UN International Year of Mountains and designated 11 December as International Mountain Day from 2003.
  • The first time International Mountain Day was celebrated was on 11 December 2003.
  • Every year it is celebrated with a particular theme.

What are mountains?

• Mountain refers to landformthat rises prominently above its surroundings, generally exhibiting steep slopes, a relatively confined summit area, and considerable local relief.
• Mountains generally are understood to be larger than hills, but the term has no standardized geological meaning. 

Types of mountains

• Volcanic Mountains: Volcanic mountains are formed when a tectonic plate is pushed beneath another (or above a mid-ocean ridge or hotspot) where magma is forced to the surface.
• Fold Mountains: They occur when two tectonic plates collide at a convergent plate boundary, causing the crust to over-thicken. 
• Block Mountains: Such mountains are caused by faults in the crust, a seam where rocks can move past each other.
  • Also known as rifting, this process occurs when rocks on one side of a fault rise relative to the other.
  • The uplifted blocks become block mountains (also known as horsts) while the intervening dropped blocks are known as graben (i.e. depressed regions).