Tallest man in the world – famous heights compared

The tallest man in the world – and other famous heights

The tallest man alive is Sultan Kösen at 8 ft 3 in / 251 cm, measured in 2011; the tallest man ever was Robert Wadlow at 8 ft 11 in / 272 cm, last measured in 1940 – both according to Guinness World Records. Athletes’ heights come from their league or federation profiles, historic figures’ from museums and the institutions that keep their records. Everyone appears as a generic silhouette – no photos, no likenesses.

How to use Height Studio

1. Add yourself and others

   Open “Add person”, type a name and a height – 5′9″, 69 in, 175 or 1.75 m all work – and pick a figure, a build and a color. Children, teens and older people have their own silhouettes. “Add to comparison” puts the person into the chart.

2. Pick from the library

   In “Library”, type what you are looking for – a country, an animal, a building – or open a category. Every row shows the size and what was measured, and “Order” lists the figures A–Z or “Tallest first”.

3. Measure and compare

   Tap a figure to draw its measuring line across the chart. A card shows how much taller or shorter everyone else is and, for big things, how many of you it would take to reach the top.

4. Compare by length

   “Length” lines everything up by its length instead: ships, planes, trains, cars, whales and dinosaurs side by side from a start line, with people and rockets lying down. “Height” switches back.

5. Zoom, move and go full screen

   Pinch or use + and − to zoom, drag to move along the line-up, and “Fit all” brings everything back into view. “Full screen” gives the chart the whole screen; on a phone, turn it sideways for the widest view.

6. Share or save

   “Share link” copies a link with the whole comparison and “Save PNG” downloads it as a picture. In “Line-up” you can rename, recolor, reorder or remove every figure.

Popular comparisons

Tap one to load it into the chart above, then add yourself next to it.

• Robert Wadlow vs. Average young man – 8 ft 11 in / 272 cm against 5 ft 7 in / 170.8 cm: about 1.6 times as tall, a difference of 3 ft 4 in / 101.2 cm.
• Sultan Kösen vs. Rumeysa Gelgi – 8 ft 3 in / 251 cm against 7 ft 1 in / 215.2 cm: a difference of 1 ft 2 in / 35.8 cm.
• Zeng Jinlian vs. Average young woman – 8 ft 1 in / 246.3 cm against 5 ft 2 in / 158.6 cm: about 1.6 times as tall, a difference of 2 ft 11 in / 87.7 cm.
• Robert Wadlow vs. Chandra Bahadur Dangi – 8 ft 11 in / 272 cm against 1 ft 9 in / 54.6 cm: about 5 times as tall, a difference of 7 ft 2 in / 217.4 cm.
• Victor Wembanyama vs. Stephen Curry – 7 ft 4 in / 223.5 cm against 6 ft 2 in / 188 cm: a difference of 1 ft 2 in / 35.6 cm.
• Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi – 6 ft 2 in / 189 cm against 5 ft 7 in / 170.2 cm: a difference of 7.4 in / 18.8 cm.
• Michael Phelps vs. Simone Biles – 6 ft 4 in / 193 cm against 4 ft 8 in / 142.2 cm: about 1.4 times as tall, a difference of 1 ft 8 in / 50.8 cm.
• Yao Ming vs. Shaquille O’Neal – 7 ft 6 in / 228.6 cm against 7 ft 1 in / 215.9 cm: a difference of 5 in / 12.7 cm.

Tips for better comparisons

• Measure in the morning, barefoot. You are tallest right after waking up and lose a little height over the day. The guide How to measure your height at home shows an exact method with a wall and a book.
• Compare like with like. Country averages are 19-year-olds, children show the WHO median for their age, and four-legged animals are measured at the shoulder. Tap a figure to see exactly where its number sits.
• Start from an idea. “Ideas to try” below the chart loads ready line-ups – family, dinosaurs, the tallest buildings, the solar system – that you can change freely.
• Stand next to your country. Search for your country in “Library” and add its average man or woman, or open the average height by country page with the whole ranking.
• No account needed. A shared link holds the whole comparison in its address – bookmark it to keep it.

Why athletes’ heights differ between sources

Clubs, leagues and national federations publish heights separately, and their numbers do not always match – the same player can be a few centimeters taller on one profile than on another. Height Studio uses one official profile per athlete and links it on the figure, so you can check the number yourself. The tallest and shortest people on record come from Guinness World Records, which measures them under its own rules.

Feet, inches and centimeters

One inch is exactly 2.54 centimeters and a foot is 12 inches (30.48 cm). To turn centimeters into feet and inches, divide by 2.54, then take out whole groups of 12: 175 cm ÷ 2.54 = 68.9 in, which is 5 ft 8.9 in – about 5′9″. The chart rounds to the nearest inch; the line-up keeps the exact value.

What exactly is measured

• People stand straight, without shoes. Children show the WHO median for their age; country averages are the mean height of 19-year-olds in 2019, estimated by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration from measured data.
• Four-legged animals are measured at the shoulder, as zoos and breed standards do. The figure stands with its shoulder on that height, so a horse’s head rises above the line.
• Long animals – snakes, whales, sharks and most dinosaurs – are measured nose to tail, so the drawing is scaled by its length. Dinosaur sizes are museum estimates from fossils.
• Buildings use their official height to the architectural top, spires included; mountains their height above sea level. Planets sit on the ground like balls and are drawn by their diameter, and altitudes such as the Kármán line run across the chart.

Where the numbers come from

The figures in the library rest on 277 source pages – nothing is guessed. Typical values are averages or the middle of the range a source gives, so real individuals vary. A few of the main sources by category:

• People & ages: World Health Organization, NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)
• Famous people: Guinness World Records, NBA.com, Team USA
• Sports: FIBA, Volleyball World, International Journal of Morphology
• Animals: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Animal Diversity Web, National Geographic
• Prehistoric: Natural History Museum, London, Field Museum, Chicago, Guinness World Records
• Tiny world: Animal Diversity Web, The Wildlife Trusts, Royal Horticultural Society
• Objects: The IFAB, FIBA, FIVB
• Vehicles: Lufthansa Group, NASA, SpaceX
• Buildings: CTBUH Skyscraper Center, U.S. National Park Service, Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
• Nature: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Woodland Trust, Guinness World Records
• Space: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics
• Altitudes: FAI, NASA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Countries: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

Every source with its link is on the sources page.

More height comparisons

• Height comparison chart
• Average height by country
• Dinosaur size comparison
• Building height comparison
• Animal size comparison
• Length comparison