southern hemisphere
Earth's bottom half
The southern hemisphere is the half of Earth south of the equator, containing Antarctica, Australia, most of South America, and parts of Africa and Asia.
Seasons are reversed from the northern hemisphere—summer in December, winter in June.
Species in the southern hemisphere show distinct evolutionary patterns.
The term applies to any sphere divided by an equatorial plane. (Capitalized Southern Hemisphere is the standard form in geographic contexts.)
general
Rotating leftward from above
- celestial poleAxis endpoint above Earth
- zenithPoint straight overhead
- temperateMild, avoiding extremes
counterclockwise
Rotating leftward from above
- celestial poleAxis endpoint above Earth
- zenithPoint straight overhead
- temperateMild, avoiding extremes
- earth zonesarctic zone, temperate zone, tropical zone, climate zone, cold zone
- Southern HemisphereAntarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Patagonia, Argentina
- hemi-hemiplegia, hemianopia, hemisection, hemiparasite
- Latitudesequator, Arctic Circle, Antarctic Circle, North Pole, parallel
- planetary featuresvolcano, mountain, crater, canyon, cliff
- polar climateArctic, Antarctic, North Pole, polar regions, polar ice
south, southern, southward, southerly, hemisphere, southerner, southwards, southerners, Southland