Earth's southern hemisphere highlighted in yellow (Antarctica not depicted).
The
Southern Hemisphere is the half of a
planet that is
south of the
equator—the word
hemisphere (from the
Greek word σφαιρα (sphere)
+ημι(half)) literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the
celestial sphere south of the celestial
equator.
Earth's southern hemisphere contains all or parts of four
continents (
Antarctica,
Australia, parts of
South America and parts of
Africa), four
oceans (
South Atlantic,
Indian,
South Pacific, and
Southern) and most of
Oceania. Several islands off the Asian continental mainland are also in the Southern Hemisphere. Due to the tilt of Earth's rotation relative to the
Sun and the
ecliptic plane, summer is
December 21 to
March 21 and winter is
June 21 to
September 21. September 22 is the vernal equinox and March 21 is the autumnal equinox.
Geography
Climates in the southern hemisphere overall tend to be slightly milder than those in the
Northern Hemisphere except in the
Antarctic which is colder than the
Arctic. 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 through the north causes an apparent right-left trajectory through the sky unlike the left-right motion of the sun when seen from the northern hemisphere as it passes through the southern sky. Sun-cast shadows turn
anticlockwise through the day (
sundials have the hours in reverse). Hurricanes and tropical storms spin
clockwise in the southern hemisphere (as opposed to
anticlockwise in the
Northern Hemisphere) due to the
Coriolis effect.
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,
Swaziland 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
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
Note: The parts of these countries that are in the Southern Hemisphere are not part of the Asian continental mainland.
Entirely
Mostly
Partly
Oceania countries
Entirely
Mostly
South American countries
Entirely
Mostly
Partly
Other territories
Aurora australis appearing in the night sky of Swifts Creek, 100 km north of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia
See also
