Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere of Earth highlighted in yellow.

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 it contains four continents (part of Africa, Australia, most of South America, and Antarctica) and four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern). Summer occurs from December to February and winter from June to August.

This region has historically been seen as less developed and poorer than the Northern Hemisphere. However, the Southern Hemisphere is also significantly less polluted than the Northern Hemisphere due to lower overall population densities, lower levels of industrialisation, and smaller land masses (air currents run mostly east-west, so pollution doesn't easily spread north or south). The southern temperate zone in fact is nearly all water; the only countries it contains are Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, the southern portion of Australia, and New Zealand. Only about 10% of the Earth's population lives in the Southern Hemisphere, with the most populous countries being Brazil and Indonesia (which are both partly in the Northern Hemisphere, but have most of their population in the Southern Hemisphere).

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, and water heats up and cools off more slowly than land.

In the Southern Hemisphere the sun passes from East to West in the North. This generally causes sun-cast shadows to turn anticlockwise through the day.

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.

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

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Southern Hemisphere

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Continents and countries on Earth's Southern Hemisphere

Continents in the southern hemisphere:

Antarctica
Australia
most of South America, south of the Amazon river
about 1/3 of Africa, south of the Congo river

Countries wholly or mostly in the southern hemisphere that are in Africa:

Countries wholly or mostly in the southern hemisphere that are in Asia:

Countries wholly or mostly in the southern hemisphere that are in Australasia and Oceania:

Countries wholly or mostly in the southern hemisphere that are in South America:

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Southern Hemisphere

Continents and countries on Earth's Southern Hemisphere

See also