Western Hemisphere
73162
225615195
2008-07-14T15:51:56Z
125.60.228.22
/* Countries in both hemispheres */
[[Image:Hemisferio Oeste.png|thumb|right|250px|The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow.]]
[[Image:Western_Hemisphere_LamAz.png|thumb|right|250px|Western hemisphere]]
The '''Western Hemisphere''', also '''Western hemisphere'''<ref>''[[Oxford Dictionary of English]]'', 2nd ed., rev. 2006. London, UK: Oxford University Press, p. 2001.</ref> or '''western hemisphere''',<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/western%20hemisphere ''Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary''] (based on Collegiate vol., 11th ed.) 2006. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.</ref> is a [[geography|geographical]] term for the half of the [[Earth]] that lies [[west]] of the [[Prime Meridian]] (which crosses [[Greenwich]] in [[London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom]]), the other half being the [[Eastern Hemisphere|eastern hemisphere]].<ref>"[http://www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=275388&fullArticle=true&tocId=203675 Latitude and longitude]" ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. 2006. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</ref> It is also used to specifically refer to the [[Americas]] (or the [[New World]]) and adjacent waters, while excluding other territories that lie geographically in the hemisphere (parts of [[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[Antarctica]], and [[Asia]]); thus, it is sometimes referred to as the '''American hemisphere'''.<ref name=Olson>Olson, Judy M. "[http://www.gis.psu.edu/projection/chapter4.html Projecting the hemisphere]", ch. 4 from ''[http://www.gis.psu.edu/projection/ Matching the map projection to the need]''; Robinson, Arthur H. & Snyder, John P., eds. 1997. Bethesda, MD: Cartography and Geographic Information Society, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.</ref> ''Western hemisphere'' is sometimes used as an equivalent for the [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] construct, the ''[[Western World]]'', which typically includes [[the Americas]], [[Europe]] and [[Australia]].
==Overview==
Any definition of eastern and western hemispheres, however, requires the selection of an arbitrary [[meridian (geography)|meridian]] and a corresponding meridian on the other side of the Earth. The Prime Meridian at 0° [[longitude]] is typically used, which runs through Greenwich; this is used to define the [[International Date Line]] (or [[End Meridian]]) on the other side of the Earth at 180° longitude. In its proper geographic sense, the western hemisphere includes not only the Americas, but the western portions of Europe and Africa, the easternmost tip of [[Russia]], numerous territories in [[Oceania]], and a portion of Antarctica while excluding some of the [[Aleutian Islands]] to the southwest of the [[Alaska]]n mainland. Often, the meridians of 20° W and the diametrically opposed 160° E are used,<ref name=Olson /><ref>"Western Hemisphere". ''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary,'' 3rd ed. 2001. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., p. 1294.</ref> which excludes the European and African mainlands but also excludes a small portion of northeast [[Greenland]] and includes more of eastern Russia and Oceania (e.g., [[New Zealand]]).
The two major regions of [[Antarctica]] are named after their positions mainly within a single hemisphere; [[West Antarctica]] is named for the Western Hemisphere.
==Countries in both hemispheres==
Below is a list of the countries which are in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres on the [[Prime Meridian]], in order from north to south:
*[[United Kingdom]]
*[[France]]
*[[Spain]]
*[[Algeria]]
*[[Mali]]
*[[Burkina Faso]]
*[[Togo]]
*[[Ghana]]
Below is a list of the countries which are in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres along the 180th meridian, in order from north to south:
*[[Russia]]
*[[United States]]
*[[Kiribati]]
*[[Tuvalu]]
*[[Wallis and Futuna]] (France)
*[[Fiji]]
==Countries in the Western Hemisphere but not in the Americas==
The following countries lie outside the Americas (or New World) yet are in part or entirely within the Western Hemisphere.
*[[Algeria]]
*[[American Samoa]] (United States)
*[[Burkina Faso]]
*[[Cape Verde]]
*[[Cook Islands]] (New Zealand)
*[[Faeroe Islands]] (Denmark)
*[[Fiji]]
*[[France]]
*[[French Polynesia]] (France)
*[[Gambia]]
*[[Ghana]]
*[[Guinea]]
*[[Guinea-Bissau]]
*[[Iceland]]
*[[Ireland]]
*[[Ivory Coast]]
*[[Kiribati]]
*[[Liberia]]
*[[Mali]]
*[[Mauritania]]
*[[Morocco]]
*[[Niue]] (New Zealand)
*[[Pitcairn Island]] (United Kingdom)
*[[Portugal]]
*[[Russia]]
*[[Samoa]]
*[[Senegal]]
*[[Sierra Leone]]
*[[Spain]]
*[[Togo]]
*[[Tokelau]] (New Zealand)
*[[Tonga]]
*[[Tuvalu]]
*[[United Kingdom]]
*[[Wallis and Futuna]] (France)
*[[Western Sahara]] (Morocco)
==Sources==
{{reflist}}
{{Hemispheres}}
[[Category:Hemispheres]]
[[bg:Западно полукълбо]]
[[ca:Hemisferi occidental]]
[[da:Vestlige Halvkugle]]
[[de:Westliche Hemisphäre]]
[[et:Läänepoolkera]]
[[es:Hemisferio Occidental]]
[[fr:Hémisphère Ouest]]
[[fy:Westlik healrûn]]
[[gl:Hemisferio occidental]]
[[ko:서반구]]
[[id:Belahan barat]]
[[it:Emisfero occidentale]]
[[lv:Rietumu puslode]]
[[ms:Hemisfera Barat]]
[[nl:Westelijk halfrond]]
[[ja:西半球]]
[[no:Vestlige halvkule]]
[[pl:Półkula zachodnia]]
[[pt:Hemisfério ocidental]]
[[ru:Западное полушарие]]
[[simple:Western Hemisphere]]
[[sk:Západná hemisféra]]
[[vi:Tây bán cầu]]
[[tr:Batı Yarımküresi]]
[[uk:Західна півкуля]]
[[zh:西半球]]