K2 has an unusual name. Most famous mountains are named after a person or a place, but K2 just means 'Karakoram number 2'. The surveyors who first measured it in the 1850s gave each peak a number, and the name K2 stuck because hardly anyone lived close enough to give it a local one.
The mountain is almost a perfect pyramid shape from every side. Climbers describe it as 'the mountaineer's mountain' because it is so steep. While more people climb Everest each year, far fewer try K2 - it is much steeper and the weather can change in minutes.
K2 is part of the Karakoram range, which has the largest glaciers outside of the polar regions. The biggest is called the Baltoro Glacier - it is 63 kilometres long, about the distance from London to Brighton. You can see the snout of the glacier in the picture at the foot of the mountain.
People do live in the valleys below K2, in places called Hunza, Skardu and Shigar. The villagers grow apricots, apples and cherries in the summer, and many work as porters and guides, helping climbing teams from around the world carry their tents and food up to base camp.