Northern Hemisphere
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet's surface (or celestial sphere) that is north of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'). On the Earth, the Northern Hemisphere contains most of the land and about 88-90% of the human population.
In the temperate regions of the hemisphere, winter lasts from December to February (though winter weather can begin as early as September and last into May or even June in arctic regions) and Summer from June to August.
The Earth's perihelion, during which its orbital motion is fastest, occurs in January. In theory, northern hemisphere winters would therefore tend to be shorter and less severe than southern hemisphere winters at equivalent latitudes, but in practice, the moderating effect of the larger southern hemisphere oceans more than compensates for this effect. Tropical regions tend to experience a rainy season during the 'summer' months, and a dry season during the 'winter' months.
Regions north of the Arctic Circle will experience some days in summer on which the sun never sets, and some days in winter on which the sun never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for places right on the Arctic circle to several months near the North Pole itself.
[edit] Continents and countries on Earth's Northern Hemisphere
Continents in the northern hemisphere:
- Asia (Indonesia is primarily in the southern hemisphere)
- Europe
- North America
- A small part of South America, north of the Amazon River
- About ⅔ of Africa, north of the Congo River
Countries wholly or mostly or partly in the northern hemisphere that are in Africa:
- Wholly
- Algeria
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea-Bissau
- Ivory Coast
- Liberia
- Libya
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Sudan
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Western Sahara
- Mostly
- Equatorial Guinea
- Kenya
- Sao tome and principe
- Somalia
- Uganda
- Partly
- Democratic rep of Congo
- Gabon
- Republic of Congo
Countries primarily in the northern hemisphere that are southeast of Asia:
Countries and territories wholly or mostly or partly in the northern hemisphere that are in South America:
[edit] See also
| Hemispheres of the Earth |
|---|
| Northern Hemisphere • Southern Hemisphere • Western Hemisphere • Eastern Hemisphere • Land hemisphere • Water hemisphere |
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