Southern Hemisphere
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| |
| Map of Earth | |
| Longitude (λ) | |
|---|---|
| Appear curved and vertical in this projection, but are actually halves of great circles. | |
| Latitude (φ) | |
| Appear straight and horizontal in this projection, but are actually circular with different radii. All locations with a given latitude are collectively referred to as a circle of latitude. | |
| The equator divides the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere, and has a latitude of 0°. | Image:World map with equator.jpg |
The southern hemisphere is the half of a planet's surface (or celestial sphere) that is south of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball').
On Earth, the southern hemisphere contains five continents (Antarctica, Australia, most of South America, parts of Africa and Asia) and four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern). Summer is December through February and winter is June through August.
The southern hemisphere is significantly less polluted than the northern hemisphere because of lower overall population densities total of 10-12% of the human population, lower levels of industrialisation, and smaller land masses (air currents run mostly west–east so pollution does not easily spread north or south). The southern temperate zone is in fact nearly all water. The only countries that include at least some of this zone are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, and Uruguay.
Climates in the southern hemisphere tend to be slightly milder than in the northern hemisphere. This is because the southern hemisphere has significantly less land and more ocean. The water heats up and cools down more slowly than land.
In the southern hemisphere, the sun passes from east to west through the north (in the tropics the mean Sun may be directly overhead or due south at midday). This causes sun-cast shadows to turn anticlockwise through the day. Hurricanes and tropical storms spin clockwise in the southern hemisphere (as opposed to counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere) due to the Coriolis effect. A fact often missed is that in the southern hemisphere, the Moon appears to be upside-down compared to viewing from the northern hemisphere.
The south pole is oriented towards the galactic centre and this, combined with clearer skies, makes for excellent viewing of the night sky from the southern hemisphere, with brighter and more numerous stars.
[edit] Continents and countries on Earth's southern hemisphere
Continents in the southern hemisphere:
- Antarctica
- Australia Oceania
- most of South America, south of the Amazon river mouth in the east and Quito in the west
- about 1/3 of Africa, south of Libreville in Gabon in the west to south of the southern tip of Somalia in the east
[edit] Countries wholly or mostly or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in Asia:
Wholly
Mostly
Partly
[edit] Countries wholly or mostly or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in Africa:
Wholly
- Angola
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Comores
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Madagscar
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Mostly
Partly
[edit] Countries wholly or mostly or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in Australasia and Oceania:
Wholly
- Australia
- Cook Islands
- Fiji
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Niue
- Papua New Guinea
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
Mostly
[edit] Countries wholly or mostly or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in South America:
Wholly
Mostly
Partly
[edit] Other territories in the southern hemisphere:
- American Samoa
- Antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
- Chagos Archipelago
- Easter Island
- Falkland Islands
- French Polynesia
- Galápagos Islands
- Jarvis Island
- Juan Fernández Islands
- Kerguelen Islands
- Kermadec Islands
- Mayotte
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand sub-antarctic islands
- Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
- Réunion
- Saint Helena
- Saint Paul and Amsterdam
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- Swains Island
- Tristan da Cunha
- Wallis and Futuna
[edit] See also
- Seasons
- Solstice
- Equinox
- Tropic of Capricorn
- Crux (or Southern Cross)
| Hemispheres of the Earth |
|---|
| Northern Hemisphere • Southern Hemisphere • Western Hemisphere • Eastern Hemisphere • Land hemisphere • Water hemisphere |
da:Sydlige halvkugle de:Südhalbkugel et:Lõunapoolkera es:Hemisferio Sur eo:Suda hemisfero eu:Hego hemisferio fa:نیمکره جنوبی fr:Hémisphère Sud gl:Hemisferio sur ko:남반구 hr:Južna polutka it:Emisfero australe he:חצי הכדור הדרומי nl:Zuidelijk halfrond ja:南半球 no:Sydlige halvkule pl:Półkula południowa pt:Hemisfério sul ru:Южное полушарие simple:Southern Hemisphere sv:Södra halvklotet vi:Nam bán cầu zh:南半球
