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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, the southern hemisphere contains five continents (Antarctica, Australia, most of South America, parts of Africa and Asia) and four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern). Summer is December through February and winter is June through August.
The southern hemisphere is significantly less polluted than the northern hemisphere because of lower overall population densities total of 10-12% of the human population, 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 countries that include at least some of this zone 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 (in the tropics the mean Sun may be directly overhead or due south at midday). 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. A fact often missed is that in the southern hemisphere, the Moon appears to be upside-down compared to viewing from the northern hemisphere.
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.
[edit] Continents and countries on Earth's southern hemisphere
Continents in the southern hemisphere:
[edit] Countries wholly, mostly, or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in Asia:
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[edit] Countries completely, mostly, or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in Africa:
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[edit] Countries wholly, mostly, or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in Australasia and Oceania:
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[edit] Countries wholly, mostly, or partly in the southern hemisphere that are in South America:
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[edit] Other territories in the southern hemisphere:
Aurora australis appearing in the night sky of Swifts Creek, 100km north of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia
[edit] See also
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