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Information about Southern Hemisphere

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Southern hemisphere from above the South Pole.
The Southern Hemisphere or southern hemisphere[1] is the half of a planet that is south of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator.

Earth's southern hemisphere contains five continents (Antarctica, Australia, most of South America, parts of Africa and of Asia), and four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, South Pacific, and Southern). Due to the tilt of Earth's rotation relative to the Sun and the ecliptic plane, Summer is December 21 through March 21 and winter is June 21 through to September 21.

Geography

Climates in the southern hemisphere tend to be slightly milder than those in the northern hemisphere. This is because the southern hemisphere has significantly more ocean and less land. Water heats up and cools down more slowly than land. The southern hemisphere is also significantly less polluted than the northern hemisphere because of lower overall population densities (a total of 10 to 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).

In the southern hemisphere the sun passes from east to west through the north, although north of the tropic of Capricorn the Mean sun can be directly overhead or due south at midday. The sun rotating to the north causes sun-cast shadows to turn anticlockwise through the day (sun dials have the hours in reverse). 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 the view from the northern hemisphere, or, for people in the south, the northerners have an upside-down image of it.

The southern temperate zone, a subsection of the southern hemisphere, is nearly all oceanic. The only countries that lie entirely within this zone are Uruguay, Lesotho and New Zealand. Countries lying partly in the zone are Chile (most of), Argentina (most of), Paraguay, Brazil, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa (most of), Mozambique, Madagascar and Australia.

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.

List of continents and countries

Continents

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A famous photo of Earth from Apollo 17 (Blue Marble) originally had the south pole at the top; however, it was turned upside-down to fit the traditional perspective.

African countries

Entirely
Mostly
Partly

Asian countries

Entirely
Mostly

Indian Ocean countries

Entirely
Partly

Oceania countries

Entirely
Mostly

South American countries

Entirely
Mostly
Partly

Other territories


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Aurora australis appearing in the night sky of Swifts Creek, 100 km north of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia

See also

References

1. ^ Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary (based on Collegiate vol., 11th ed.) 2006. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.


 •  • [ e]
Hemispheres of the Earth
Northern hemisphere • Southern hemisphere • Western hemisphere • Eastern hemisphere • Land hemisphere • Water hemisphere
planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighbouring region of
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South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.

South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of North and at right angles to East and West.
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equator is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole. It thus divides the Earth into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere. The equators of other planets and astronomical bodies are defined analogously.
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A sphere is a symmetrical geometrical object. In non-mathematical usage, the term is used to refer either to a round ball or to its two-dimensional surface. In mathematics, a sphere is the set of all points in three-dimensional space (R3
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celestial sphere is an imaginary rotating sphere of "gigantic radius", concentric and coaxial with the Earth. All objects in the sky can be thought of as lying upon the sphere.
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equator is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole. It thus divides the Earth into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere. The equators of other planets and astronomical bodies are defined analogously.
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continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, but seven areas are commonly regarded as continents – they are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America,
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Australia (also called Australia-New Guinea, Sahul, Meganesia, Greater Australia, Australasia, or Australinea) is a continent comprising (in order of size) the Australian mainland, New Guinea, Tasmania, and intervening islands, all of which
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South America is a continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie
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Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area.
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Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
An ocean (from Ωκεανός, Okeanos
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Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres (41.1 million square miles), it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface.
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
This article is about the water body. For the Indian fusion music band, see Indian Ocean (band).

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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean


The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean
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The Sun

Observation data
Mean distance
from Earth 1.4961011 m
(8.31 min at light speed)
Visual brightness (V) −26.74m [1]
Absolute magnitude 4.
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ecliptic is the apparent path that the Sun traces out in the sky, as it appears to move in the sky in relation to the stars, this apparent path aligns with the planets throughout the course of the year.
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Summer is one of the four seasons of the year. In the West, the seasons are generally considered to start at the equies and solstices, based on astronomical reckoning. In English-language calendars, based on astronomy, summer begins on the day of the summer solstice and ends on the
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December 21 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.
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March 21 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

In astrology, March 21
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Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. Almost all English-language calendars, going by astronomy, state that winter begins on the winter solstice, and ends on the spring equinox.
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June 21 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

In common years it is always in ISO week 25.
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International Day of Peace
  • International Day against Alzheimer's disease
  • International Banana Festival
  • Day of the trees in Brazil
  • RC Saints - Matthew the Evangelist
  • The Nativity of the Theotokos in Russia.
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    • Climate is the average and variations of weather over long periods of time. Climate zones can be defined using parameters such as temperature and rainfall.
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    Northern Hemisphere or northern hemisphere[1] is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator.
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    population is the collection of people or organisms of a particular species living in a given geographic area or mortality, and migration, though the field encompasses many dimensions of population change including the family (marriage and divorce), public health, work and the
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    Industrialisation (also spelt Industrialization) or an Industrial Revolution is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a pre-industrial society (an economy where the amount of capital accumulated per capita is low) to an
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    Not to be confused with landmass.


    Land mass refers to the total area of a country or geographical region (which may include discontinuous pieces of land such as islands). The Earth's total land mass is 148,939,063.133 km² (57,511,026.
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