The first woman to summit Mount Everest was from which country?

Junko Tabei was a Japanese mountaineer and the first woman to summit Mount Everest and the first female to scale all "Seven Summits" which are the highest peaks on each continent.

Tabei, survived an avalanche during their ascent of Everest to reach the summit May 16, 1975.

As of June 2017, 536 women have summited Everest.

The world was astounded by Tabei's feat. She received messages from the King of Nepal and the Japanese government, a television miniseries was made about the expedition. She also toured Japan making personal appearances. Admittedly, the very private woman was uncomfortable with all the hoopla surrounding her.

In addition to climbing, Tabei worked on ecological concerns. In 2000, she completed postgraduate studies at Kyushu University focusing on the environmental degradation of Everest caused by the waste left behind by climbing groups. She was also the director of the Himalayan Adventure Trust of Japan, an organization working at a global level to preserve mountain environments. One of the trust's projects was to build an incinerator to burn climbers' rubbish. She also led and participated in "clean-up" climbs in Japan and the Himalayas.

Tabei died on Oct. 20, 2016 after a four-year bout with cancer.