A peak in the Karakoram Range of northern Kashmir in the region controlled by Pakistan. At 8,611 m (28,251 ft), it is the second-highest mountain in the world. It was designated K2 in 1856 because it was the second Karakoram peak to be measured for height and was later (1888) named for Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834-1923), a British surveyor.