Water hemisphere

hemisphere on the Earth containing the largest possible total area of ocean

The water hemisphere is the hemisphere on the Earth with the highest area of water. It is centered on 47°13′S 178°28′E / 47.217°S 178.467°E / -47.217; 178.467, near New Zealand.[1][2] The other half of the Earth is the land hemisphere.

Water hemisphere
Water hemisphere

Not including Antartica, the water hemisphere has only one-eighth of the world's land,.[1] Australia, New Zealand, a small part of Southeast Asia and the southern part of South America are in the water hemisphere.

Antarctica is included in the hemisphere, and most of it is certainly land.[3][4] If it were included in the total land area of Earth, the water hemisphere would have one-fifth of the world's land. Most of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean are on the water hemisphere. The area of the oceans of the water hemisphere is much higher than its land area, but the area of the oceans of the land hemisphere is still higher than its land area.

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Boggs, Samuel Whittemore (December 1945). "This Hemisphere". Journal of Geography. 44 (9): 345–355. doi:10.1080/00221344508986498.
  2. Judy M. Olson (1997). "Projecting the Hemisphere". Matching the Map Projection to the Need. American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  3. The main parts which are not on land are the Ronne ice shelf and the Ross ice shelf.
  4. Stonehouse B. (ed) 2002. Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-98665-8