The Himalayan Mountains form at a convergent plate boundary where the Indian Plate collides with the Eurasian Plate. This is a continental-continental collision zone, one of the most significant mountain-building processes on Earth. Unlike convergent boundaries where oceanic crust subducts beneath continental crust, both the Indian and Eurasian plates consist of relatively light continental crust that resists sinking into the mantle. When these plates collide, neither can easily subduct, so instead the crust is compressed, thickened, and pushed upward, creating the world's highest mountain range. The collision began approximately 40-50 million years ago when the Indian Plate, moving northward, made contact with the Eurasian Plate. This process continues today—the mountains are still rising, and the collision causes frequent seismic activity in the region. The Himalayas stretch about 1,500 miles across five countries (India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, and Pakistan) and include Mount Everest and many other peaks exceeding 26,000 feet. The ongoing tectonic compression also creates the Tibetan Plateau, a vast elevated region on the Eurasian side of the collision zone, which is itself still rising and deforming due to the immense pressures generated by the plate collision.