Hemispheres of Earth

In geography and cartography, the hemispheres of Earth refer to any division of the globe into two hemispheres (from Ancient Greek  , meaning "half of a sphere").

The most common such divisions are by latitudinal or longitudinal markers:
 North–South
 Northern Hemisphere, the half that lies north of the Equator
 Southern Hemisphere, the half that lies south of the Equator
 East–West
 Eastern Hemisphere, the half that lies east of the prime meridian and west of the 180th meridian
 Western Hemisphere, the half that lies west of the prime meridian and east of the 180th meridian

The East–West division can also be seen in a cultural sense, as a division into two cultural hemispheres.

However, other schemes have sought to divide the planet in a way that maximizes the preponderance of one geographic feature or another in each division:
 Land–Water 
 Land Hemisphere, the hemisphere on Earth containing the largest possible area of land
 Water Hemisphere, the hemisphere on Earth containing the largest area of water

Earth may also be split into hemispheres of day and night by the terrestrial terminator.

See also
 Antarctica
 South Pole
 Arctic Ocean
 North Pole
 Earth's geographical centre
 Eastern Hemisphere
 Land and water hemispheres
 Northern Hemisphere
 Southern Hemisphere
 Western Hemisphere

References

External links 

 
Category:Geography