Southern Hemisphere
Earth's bottom half
The Southern Hemisphere is the half of Earth lying south of the equator.
It contains Antarctica, Australia, most of South America, and roughly a third of Africa.
Because Earth tilts on its axis, the Southern Hemisphere experiences summer when the Northern Hemisphere has winter, and vice versa.
The Southern Hemisphere has far more ocean than land.
Water drains counterclockwise here—or so the myth goes. (Lowercase southern hemisphere appears in less formal contexts.)
Nearby dwarf galaxies visible south
- CentaurusSouthern centaur constellation
- Alpha CentauriClosest star system
- celestial poleAxis endpoint above Earth
- star trailsApparent stellar motion paths
Southernmost continental landmass
- AustraliaSouthern Hemisphere continent-country
- New ZealandPacific island nation
- PatagoniaSouth America's southern tip
- TasmaniaIsland state below Australia
Cape Town · Wellington · Falkland Islands · Cape Horn · Cape of Good Hope · Andes · Amazon · Great Barrier Reef
Southern solstice latitude marker
- Coriolis effectApparent deflection on rotating bodies
- aurora australisAntarctic atmospheric light display
- ozone holeThinned protective layer
- trade windsReliable equatorial air currents
westerlies · Antarctic Circle · polar vortex · El Niño · La Niña
Shortest day, longest night
- summer solsticeLongest daylight of year
- equinoxSun crosses celestial midline
- temperateMild, avoiding extremes
Magellanic Clouds
Nearby dwarf galaxies visible south
- CentaurusSouthern centaur constellation
- Alpha CentauriClosest star system
- celestial poleAxis endpoint above Earth
star trails · Milky Way · dark skies · zenith
Antarctica
Southernmost continental landmass
- AustraliaSouthern Hemisphere continent-country
- New ZealandPacific island nation
- PatagoniaSouth America's southern tip
Tasmania · Cape Town · Wellington · Falkland Islands · Cape Horn · Cape of Good Hope · Andes · Amazon · Great Barrier Reef · Coral Sea
Tropic of Capricorn
Southern solstice latitude marker
- Coriolis effectApparent deflection on rotating bodies
- aurora australisAntarctic atmospheric light display
- ozone holeThinned protective layer
trade winds · westerlies · Antarctic Circle · polar vortex · El Niño · La Niña
winter solstice
Shortest day, longest night
- summer solsticeLongest daylight of year
- equinoxSun crosses celestial midline
- temperateMild, avoiding extremes
- hemispheresequator, poles, North Pole, prime meridian, globe
- tropicsequator, tropical climate, coconut tree, tropical, tropical zone
- Southsouthbound, down, below, lower, bottom
- Southern PlacesDixie, Patagonia, Antarctica, Southland
- Southern thingsDixie, southbound, austral, meridional
- regionsregion, regions, area, areas, zone
sphere, southern, Southern, southward, southerly, hemisphere, southwards, hemispheres, South