Western Hemisphere: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:02, 6 June 2023

Revision as of 09:49, 22 June 2023

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[[File:Western Hemisphere LamAz.png|thumb|250px|right|The Western Hemisphere]]

The '''Western Hemisphere''' is the half of the [[planet]] [[Earth]] that lies [[west]] of the [[IERS Reference Meridian|Prime Meridian]] (which crosses [[Greenwich]], [[London]], [[England]]) and [[east]] of the [[180th meridian]].<ref name=olson/><ref>{{citation | title = [[Oxford Dictionary of English]] | edition = 2nd | year = 2006 | place = London, UK | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | page = 2001}}<br>- {{citation | contribution = Western Hemisphere | title = [[Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary]]| edition = based on Collegiate vol., 11th | year = 2006 | place = Springfield, MA | publisher = Merriam-Webster}}</ref> The other half is called the [[Eastern Hemisphere]]. Politically, the term Western Hemisphere is often used as a [[metonym]] for the [[Americas]], even though geographically the hemisphere also includes parts of other continents.{{refn|name=Ref|References<ref name=brittanica>{{Cite web|title=Western Hemisphere {{!}} Definition {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Western-Hemisphere|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.britannica.com|language=en|archive-date=2020-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608135129/https://www.britannica.com/place/Western-Hemisphere|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-political-affairs/bureau-of-western-hemisphere-affairs/ Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528144817/https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-political-affairs/bureau-of-western-hemisphere-affairs/ |date=2020-05-28 }}, [[United States Department of State]].</ref><ref>[https://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Pages/-Western-Hemisphere.aspx Western Hemisphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003051713/https://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Pages/-Western-Hemisphere.aspx |date=2020-10-03 }}, [[United States Department of the Treasury]].</ref><ref>[https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas Western Hemisphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527095204/https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas |date=2020-05-27 }}, [[Office of the United States Trade Representative]].</ref><ref>[https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/joe-biden-western-hemisphere-needs-us-leadership Joe Biden: The Western Hemisphere Needs U.S. Leadership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225005245/https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/joe-biden-western-hemisphere-needs-us-leadership |date=2019-12-25 }}, [[Americas Quarterly]], 17 December 2018.</ref><ref>[https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat/worldwide-activities/western-hemisphere Western Hemisphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510160215/https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat/worldwide-activities/western-hemisphere |date=2020-05-10 }}, [[United States Department of Justice]].</ref><ref>[https://www.fas.usda.gov/regions/western-hemisphere Western Hemisphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506230841/https://www.fas.usda.gov/regions/western-hemisphere |date=2020-05-06 }}, [[United States Department of Agriculture]].</ref><ref>[https://www.fws.gov/international/wildlife-without-borders/western-hemisphere/ Western Hemisphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621091013/https://www.fws.gov/international/wildlife-without-borders/western-hemisphere/ |date=2020-06-21 }}, [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]].</ref><ref>[https://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedregion/18 Western Hemisphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405090010/https://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedregion/18 |date=2020-04-05 }}, [[Fulbright Program]].</ref>}}

==Geography==

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===Alternative definitions===

In an attempt to match the Western Hemisphere more closely with the Americas, some sources use the [[20th meridian west]] and the diametrically opposed [[160th meridian east]] to define the hemisphere.<ref name=olson>{{citation | last = Olson | first = Judy M | contribution = Projecting the hemisphere | url = https://courseware.e-education.psu.edu/projection/chapter4.html | title = Matching the map projection to the need | editor1-last = Robinson | editor1-first = Arthur H | editor2-last = Snyder | editor2-first = John P | year = 1997 | place = Bethesda, MD | publisher = Cartography and Geographic Information Society, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping | access-date = 2020-03-03 | archive-date = 2016-03-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314130049/https://courseware.e-education.psu.edu/projection/chapter4.html | url-status = live }}.<br>- {{citation | contribution = Western Hemisphere | title = Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary | edition = 3rd | year = 2001 | place = Springfield, Massachusetts | publisher = Merriam-Webster | page = 1294}}.</ref><ref name=brittanica/> This definition excludes all of the European and African mainlands, but still includes some islands associated with these continents, more of eastern Russia and Oceania, and part of Antarctica. It includes all islands of Alaska, but excludes a small portion of northeast [[Greenland]]. There is no hemisphere that includes all of the Americas while excluding all land outside of it, regardless of the meridians or points chosen to define it.

== Sovereign states in both hemispheres ==