[hellbender]

I’ve seen cattle which were pastured at about 8000’ elevation dying of pulmonary edema, which is what kills many climbers (or used to). The only cure is to get the animal down to a lower elevation where there is more oxygen. I once heard one of the early Everest climbers say that above 20K feet, the human body inevitably starts to deteriorate. I would guess that the highest permanent human habitation on earth is roughly 1/3 the elevation of Everest.

[Technocrat]

Actually, there are some South American Indian tribes that live at 18,000 feet (2/3) and the capital of Bolivia (La Paz) is over 12,000 feet in elevation. The Indians in question are short and have very large lungs :)

[OregonRancher]

Check out the altitude of the copper mines in South America.

[colorcountry]

I’ve seen cattle which were pastured at about 8000’ elevation dying of pulmonary edema,

Our pasture is above 8000 ft and this has never occured.

[Ditto]

I would guess that the highest permanent human habitation on earth is roughly 1/3 the elevation of Everest.

According to this Article, the highest permanent habitation is a village in Peru at 5100 M (~ 16,000 ft.)