The height of the Fansipan peak in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, the highest mountain in Indochina, was actually 3,147.3 metres.

This height is more than 4 metres higher than the measurement that has been officially used in many documents over the past 110 years – 3,143 metres as measured by the French in 1909, the department said at a press conference in Hanoi on June 26.

Director of the department Phan Duc Hieu said the latest measurement of the Fansipan peak was carried out using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in combination with the altitude data provided by some national satellite positioning stations and other modern technologies.

Hence, the department’s centre for surveying and processing measurement data proposed the Appraisal Council recognise the height of the Fansipan peak as 3,147.3 metres.