Hilary scaled Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet), on 29 May 1953.
The climb was part of an expedition led by the British climber, Sir John Hunt, but only Hilary and his Nepalese companion, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, were able to reach the top of the mountain.
"I continued hacking steps along the ridge and then up a few more to the right... to my great delight I realized we were on top of Mount Everest and that the whole world spread out below us," Sir Edmund said later.
Less eloquently, he is also reported to have said, "We knocked the bastard off," after completing the climb.
"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived. But most of all he was a quintessential Kiwi," New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Friday.
Hilary was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on July 16 1953.
Radio New Zealand said the mountaineer, who had been ill with pneumonia for some time, had died at Auckland City Hospital on Friday morning.
In 1958, Hilary was the member of a team that reached the South Pole by vehicle for the first time, travelling through the icy wasteland in a modified tractor.
