Southern Hemisphere
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Canationalist
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/* List of continents and countries */
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[[Image:Hemisferio Sur.png|thumb|right|Earth's southern hemisphere highlighted in yellow (Antarctica not depicted).]]
[[Image:Southern_Hemisphere_LamAz.png|thumb|right|Southern hemisphere from above the [[South Pole]].]]The '''Southern Hemisphere'''<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/southern%20hemisphere ''Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary''] (based on Collegiate vol., 11th ed.) 2006. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.</ref> is the half of a [[planet]] that is [[south]] of the [[equator]]—the word ''[[sphere|hemisphere]]'' literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the [[celestial sphere]] south of the celestial [[equator]].
Earth's southern hemisphere contains four [[continents]] ([[Antarctica]], [[Australia (continent)|Australia]], most of [[South America]], and parts of [[Africa]]), and four [[ocean]]s ([[Atlantic Ocean|South Atlantic]], [[Indian Ocean|Indian]], [[Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]], and [[Southern Ocean|Southern]]). 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]] through [[March 21]] and [[winter]] is [[June 21]] through to [[September 21]].
==Geography==
[[Climate]]s 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 mass|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 [[Solar_time#Mean_solar_time|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 ([[sun dial]]s 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]].
The [[Moon]] appears the opposite way up to how it appears in the northern hemisphere.
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 [[Milky Way|galactic center]] 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===
[[image:Apollo17WorldReversed.jpg|thumb|right|A famous photo of Earth from [[Apollo 17]] ([[The Blue Marble|Blue Marble]]) originally had the south pole at the top; however, it was turned upside-down to fit the traditional perspective.]]
*[[Antarctica]]
*[[Africa]] (approximately 1/3 of it - from south of [[Libreville]] in [[Gabon]] in the west to south of [[Somalia]] in the east)
*[[Australia (continent)|Australia]]
*[[South America]] (mostly, south of the [[Amazon river]] mouth in the east and [[Quito]] in the west)
===African countries===
;Entirely
*[[Angola]]
*[[Botswana]]
*[[Burundi]]
*[[Comoros]]
*[[Lesotho]]
*[[Madagascar]]
*[[Malawi]]
*[[Mozambique]]
*[[Namibia]]
*[[Rwanda]]
*[[South Africa]]
*[[Swaziland]]
*[[Tanzania]]
*[[Zambia]]
*[[Zimbabwe]]
;Mostly
*[[Democratic Republic of Congo]]
*[[Gabon]]
*[[Republic of the Congo]]
;Partly
*[[Equatorial Guinea]]
*[[Kenya]]
*[[Somalia]]
*[[São Tomé and Príncipe]]
*[[Uganda]]
===Asian countries===
Note: The parts of these countries that are in the Southern Hemisphere are not part of the Asian continental mainland.
;Entirely
*[[East Timor]]
;Mostly
*[[Indonesia]]
===Indian Ocean countries===
;Entirely
*[[Madagascar]]
*[[Mauritius]]
*[[Seychelles]]
;Partly
*[[Maldives]]
===Oceania countries===
;Entirely
*[[Australia]]
*[[Cook Islands]]
*[[Easter Island]]
*[[Fiji]]
*[[Nauru]]
*[[New Zealand]]
*[[Niue]]
*[[Papua New Guinea]]
*[[Pitcairn]]
*[[Samoa]]
*[[Solomon Islands]]
*[[Tahiti]]
*[[Tokelau]]
*[[Tonga]]
*[[Tuvalu]]
*[[Vanuatu]]
;Mostly
*[[Kiribati]]
===South American countries===
;Entirely
*[[Argentina]]
*[[Bolivia]]
*[[Chile]]
*[[Paraguay]]
*[[Peru]]
*[[Uruguay]]
;Mostly
*[[Brazil]]
*[[Ecuador]]
;Partly
*[[Colombia]]
===Other territories===
<table><tr><td valign=top>
*[[American Samoa]] (USA)
*[[List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands|Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands]]
*[[Bouvet Island]] (Norway)
*[[Chagos Archipelago]] (United Kingdom)
*[[Easter Island]] (Chile)
*[[Falkland Islands]] (United Kingdom)
*[[French Polynesia]] (France)
*[[Galápagos Islands]] (Ecuador)
*[[Jarvis Island]] (USA)
*[[Juan Fernández Islands]] (Chile)
*[[Kerguelen Islands]] (France)
*[[Kermadec Islands]] (New Zealand)
*[[Mayotte]] (France)
*[[New Caledonia]] (France)
<td valign=top>
*[[New Zealand sub-antarctic islands]] (New Zealand)
*[[Pitcairn | Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands]] (United Kingdom)
*[[Réunion]] (France)
*[[Saint Helena]] (United Kingdom)
*[[Île Saint-Paul|Saint Paul island]] and [[Île Amsterdam|Amsterdam island]] (France)
*[[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]] (United Kingdom, claimed by Argentina)
*[[South Orkney Islands]] (Antarctic Treaty signatories)
*[[Swains Island]] (USA, claimed by Tokelau)
*[[Tristan da Cunha]] (United Kingdom)
*[[New Caledonia | Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies]] (France)
*[[Wallis and Futuna | Territory of Wallis and Futuna Islands]] (France)
</tr></td></table>
<br>
[[Image:Aurora australis panorama.jpg|thumb|600px|centre|[[Aurora (astronomy)|Aurora australis]] appearing in the night sky of Swifts Creek, 100 km north of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia]]
[[Image:AuroraAustralisDisplay.jpg|thumb|600px|centre|[[Aurora (astronomy)|Aurora australis]] appearing from [[Stewart Island]] at the southern point of the [[South Island]] of [[New Zealand]].]]
==See also==
*[[Northern Hemisphere]]
*[[Season]]s
*[[Solstice]]
*[[Equinox]]
*[[Tropic of Capricorn]]
*[[Crux]] (or Southern Cross)
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Hemispheres}}
{{Unreferenced|date=January 2007}}
[[Category:Hemispheres]]
[[ast:Hemisferiu Sur]]
[[bs:Južna hemisfera]]
[[ca:Hemisferi sud]]
[[cs:Jižní polokoule]]
[[da:Sydlige halvkugle]]
[[de:Südhalbkugel]]
[[et:Lõunapoolkera]]
[[el:Νότιο Ημισφαίριο]]
[[es:Hemisferio Sur]]
[[eo:Suda duonglobo]]
[[eu:Hego Hemisferioa]]
[[fa:نیمکره جنوبی]]
[[fr:Hémisphère Sud]]
[[gl:Hemisferio sur]]
[[ko:남반구]]
[[hr:Južna polutka]]
[[id:Belahan selatan]]
[[is:Suðurhvel]]
[[it:Emisfero australe]]
[[he:חצי הכדור הדרומי]]
[[ku:Nîvkada Başûr]]
[[lv:Dienvidu puslode]]
[[lb:Südhallefkugel]]
[[lt:Pietų pusrutulis]]
[[ms:Hemisfera Selatan]]
[[nl:Zuidelijk halfrond]]
[[nds-nl:Zujelijk halfroend]]
[[ja:南半球]]
[[no:Sydlige halvkule]]
[[nn:Den sørlege halvkula]]
[[pl:Półkula południowa]]
[[pt:Hemisfério sul]]
[[ru:Южное полушарие]]
[[simple:Southern Hemisphere]]
[[sr:Јужна хемисфера]]
[[sh:Južna hemisfera]]
[[fi:Eteläinen pallonpuolisko]]
[[sv:Södra halvklotet]]
[[vi:Nam bán cầu]]
[[tr:Güney Yarımküre]]
[[wuu:南半球]]
[[zh:南半球]]