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Classically speaking Himalaya is correct. In Sanskrit, him = snow; alaya = abode/house. It is already a plural and identifies the whole of the Himalayan range from west to east. But recent usage and Americanization has made Himalayas more popular. Guess writers and editors just presumed that because other mountain ranges were known as Alps, Andes, Atlas, Pamirs, Pyrenees, etc., they just starting adding the 's' to Himalaya because they thought that was the correct plural form. Dictionaries also started spelling it with an s. For instance if you type Himalaya in MS Word, it says "wrong spelling, add an s." So although Himalaya is correct it is now widely used as Himalayas. So both are correct, I guess.

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12y ago

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