Hemisphere is the name given to half a sphere, cut in half through its widest point.
It is most commonly used when describing different areas of the earth.
Any circle drawn around the earth divides it into two halves called hemispheres.
Northern and Southern Hemispheres
The equator (0° latitude) divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
It is equidistant from both the North and South Poles.
On the equator, day and night are each 12 hours long.
Climate differences exist in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres because of the Earth’s tilt toward and away from the sun.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer months are from June through September. In the Southern Hemisphere, summer starts in December and ends in March. When there is summer in one hemisphere, winter falls in the other.
Europe and America are in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas South Africa and Australia are in the Southern Hemisphere.
Eastern and Western Hemispheres
The prime meridian (0° longitude) and the International Date Line (180° longitude) divide the Earth into the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
However, many geographers consider the 20° west line of longitude and the 160° east line of longitude as the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
This calculation is created so that Africa and Europe are not split.
The line between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres
The Prime Meridian, also known as the Greenwich Meridian, is the line between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This line passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. Greenwich’s Royal Observatory is home to a museum and planetarium. It is also the center of the Earth’s time system because Greenwich Mean Time is a base reference for every time zone in the world.
The line between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres passes through many countries as it divides the Earth. Starting from the North and ending in the South, the Prime Meridian passes through England, France, Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana, and Antarctica. The location of the Prime Meridian is marked at various points on such things as stones and signs. For example, a rock in Sussex, England, was set up by Captain Malcolm Burwood, a yachtsman, and pilot, to mark the Meridian. It was unveiled in 2000 and contained a time capsule! The names and photos of 600 people who attended the nearby church are in the time capsule. There are also signs on the side of a motorway in Algeria to mark the location of the Meridian.
Interesting facts about the Western and Eastern Hemisphere
- The Western Hemisphere is home to the continents of North and South America.
- North and South America contain about 29% of the world’s land.
- The Eastern Hemisphere has more land than the Western Hemisphere.
- About half of Antarctica is in the Western Hemisphere.
- Most of Europe and Africa lie in the Eastern Hemisphere, but part of these continents also lie in the Western Hemisphere.
- Since European nations began to colonize the Americas, the terms Eastern and Western Hemispheres have become significant historically and politically. This is because the Eastern Hemisphere is also known as the Old World, and the Western Hemisphere is known as the New World.
- The Western Hemisphere is a geographical term separate from the ‘western world,’ which describes parts of the world that share the same cultural, economic, and social values, including Europe, North America, and Australia.
- Another name for the line between the Eastern and Western Hemisphere is the Greenwich Meridian (as well as the Prime Meridian).
- Geographers typically divide the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, divided by the Equator.
