Southern Hemisphere

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 five continents (Antarctica, Australia, most of South America, parts of Africa and Asia) as well as four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern). Summer is from December to February and winter from June to August.

The Southern Hemisphere is 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 west–east so pollution does not easily spread north or south). The southern temperate zone is in fact nearly all water, the only large countries it contains are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and Uruguay.

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. The water heats up and cools down more slowly than land.

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

Continents and countries on Earth's Southern Hemisphere

Continents in the southern hemisphere:

Antarctica
Australia
most of South America, south of the Amazon river mouth in the east and Quito in the west
about 1/3 of Africa, south of Libreville in Gabon in the west to south of the southern tip of Somalia in the east

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:

Other countries and territories in the southern hemisphere:

American Samoa
Antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
Chagos Archipelago
Comoros
Easter Island
Falkland Islands
French Polynesia
Galápagos Islands
Jarvis Island
Juan Fernández Islands
Kerguelen Islands
Kermadec Islands
Madagascar, Republic of
Mauritius, Republic of
Mayotte
New Caledonia
New Zealand sub-antarctic islands
Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
Réunion
Saint Helena
Saint Paul and Amsterdam
Seychelles, Republic of
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Swains Island
Tristan da Cunha
Wallis and Futuna