Western Hemisphere

See also: Americas
The Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere[1][2] is a geographical term for the half of the earth that lies west of the Prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, UK) and east of the antimeridian, the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.[3]

In this sense, the Western Hemisphere consists of the Americas, the western portions of Europe and Africa, the extreme eastern tip of Russia, numerous territories in Oceania, and a portion of Antarctica, while excluding some of the Aleutian Islands to the southwest of the Alaskan mainland.

In an effort to define the Western Hemisphere as the parts of the world which are not part of the Old World, there also exist projections which use the 20th meridian west and the diametrically opposed 160th meridian east to define the hemisphere.[4][5] This projection excludes the European and African mainlands and a small portion of northeast Greenland, but includes more of eastern Russia and Oceania.

The center of the Western Hemisphere is located in the Pacific Ocean at the intersection of the 90th meridian west and the equator very close to the Galápagos.

The population of the geographical Western Hemisphere exceeds 1 billion. Of the four hemispheres, only the Southern Hemisphere is less populated.

The highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere is Aconcagua in the Andes of Argentina at 6,960.8 metres (22,837 ft). [6]

Countries in both hemispheres

Below is a list of the countries which are in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres on the IERS Reference Meridian, in order from north to south:

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:

Countries in the Western Hemisphere but not in the Americas

The following nations lie outside the Americas yet are partially or entirely within the Western Hemisphere.

Sources

  1. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd ed.), London, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 2001
  2. ↑ "Western /western%20hemisphere", Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary (based on Collegiate vol., 11th ed.), Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2006
  3. ↑ "Western Hemisphere", Britannica.com
  4. ↑ Olson, Judy M (1997), "Projecting the hemisphere", in Robinson, Arthur H; Snyder, John P, Matching the map projection to the need, Bethesda, MD: Cartography and Geographic Information Society, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.
  5. ↑ "Western Hemisphere", Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (3rd ed.), Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2001, p. 1294.
  6. ↑ "Informe científico que estudia el Aconcagua, el Coloso de América mide 6960,8 metros" [Scientific Report on Aconcagua, the Colossus of America measures 6960,8m] (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Greenland". Eldey.de.
  8. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". National Geographic.
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Coordinates: 0°N 90°W / 0°N 90°W / 0; -90

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