Hemispheres of Earth

The four conventional halves of Earth are defined by the equator and the prime meridians: Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western.

Connect

Equator: The imaginary great circle at zero degrees latitude, equidistant from the North and South Poles. It divides Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Northern Hemisphere: The half of Earth north of the equator. It is one of the two halves defined by the equator.
World map: A representation of Earth's surface on a flat or curved display. Map layouts use hemisphere boundaries to orient and group locations.
Geographic pole: Either point where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. The poles anchor the rotational axis, unlike the equator-based hemisphere boundary.
Prime meridian: The reference meridian at zero degrees longitude, passing through Greenwich, England. Together with the 180th meridian, it defines the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Southern Hemisphere: The half of Earth south of the equator. It is the equator's counterpart to the Northern Hemisphere.
Cartography: The practice and study of making maps. Cartographers use hemisphere divisions as a basic way to organize global maps.
Magnetic pole: A location where Earth's magnetic field is vertical, with positions that shift over time. Magnetic poles are not the fixed geographic boundaries used to define hemispheres.
Latitude: The angular coordinate that measures a location's distance north or south of the equator. Latitude determines whether a location lies in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.
Eastern Hemisphere: The half of Earth east of the prime meridian and west of the 180th meridian. It is one conventional half in the east–west division.