Earth is divided into a Northern and Southern Hemisphere at the Equator, the imaginary line on the planet midway between its geographical poles.
Geographic Overview
The Southern Hemisphere is the half of Earth south of the Equator, containing 80.9% water (20% more than the Northern Hemisphere) from four oceans, including the Indian, South Atlantic, Southern, and South Pacific). Because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly more ocean and less land, climates tend to be milder than similar latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. This is because water heats up and cools more slowly than land.
Regarding land, the Southern Hemisphere contains all or a portion of five continents, including:
- Australia
- Antarctica
- South America (90%)
- Africa (33%)
- Asia (several islands off the continental mainland)
Population Overview
The population of the Southern Hemisphere is 800 million, only 10-12% of the total population of 7.3 billion. Two hundred million of these 800 million live in Brazil, the largest and most densely populated country in the Southern Hemisphere. Another 141 million live on the Indonesian island of Java, the most populous island in the world. Because of the Southern Hemisphere demographics, Portuguese is the most spoken language, followed by Spanish and Javanese. Countries in the Southern Hemisphere are located in both the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere.
List of Countries
The continent of Antarctica contains the geographic South Pole and is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere.
Australia
Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere. The includes the following:
- Australia
- Papua New Guinea
South America
As previously mentioned, 90% of South America lies in the Southern Hemisphere. This includes:
Entirely in Southern Hemisphere:
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Uruguay
Mostly in Southern Hemisphere:
- Brazil
- Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands and its abundant wildlife)
Partially in Southern Hemisphere:
- Colombia
Africa
One-third of Africa is located in the Southern Hemisphere, including:
Entirely in Southern Hemisphere:
- Angola
- Botswana
- Burundi
- Comoros
- Eswatini
- Lesotho
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Reunion
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Mostly in Southern Hemisphere
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Gabon
Partially in Southern Hemisphere
- Equatorial Guinea
- Kenya
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Somalia
- Uganda
Asia
Most of Asia is located in the Northern Hemisphere, with some islands situated in the Southern Hemisphere. These include:
Entirely in the Southern Hemisphere
- East Timor
Mostly in the Southern Hemisphere
- Indonesia
Partially in the Southern Hemisphere
- Maldives
List of Oceanic Countries
Many oceanic countries are part of the Southern Hemisphere. These include:
Indian Ocean
Entirely in the Southern Hemisphere
- Ashmore and Cartier Islands
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- French Southern and Antarctic Lands
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- Prince Edward Islands
South Atlantic Ocean
Entirely in the Southern Hemisphere
- Bouvet Island (Norway)
- Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas
- Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Southern Ocean
Entirely in the Southern Hemisphere
- Antarctic and subantarctic islands
- Peter I Island
- South Orkney Islands
- South Shetland Islands
Southern Pacific Ocean
Solely in the Southern Hemisphere
- American Samoa
- Cook Islands
- Coral Sea Islands
- Easter Island
- Fiji
- French Polynesia (including Tahiti)
- Jarvis Island
- Nauru
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Pitcairn Islands
- Salas y Gómez Island
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Wallis and Futuna
Mostly in the Southern Hemisphere
- Kiribati