Land and water hemispheres

Divisions of the Earth's surface

Land hemisphere

Water hemisphere

Front-view equal-area maps of each hemisphere

Side-view equal-area maps (land hemisphere top, water hemisphere bottom)

The land hemisphere and water hemisphere are the hemispheres of Earth containing the largest possible total areas of land and ocean, respectively. By definition (assuming that the entire surface can be classified as either "land" or "ocean"), the two hemispheres do not overlap.

Determinations of the hemispheres vary slightly. One determination places the centre of the land hemisphere at 47°13′N 1°32′W﻿ / ﻿47.217°N 1.533°W﻿ / 47.217; -1.533 (in the city of Nantes, France).[1] The centre of the water hemisphere is the antipode of the centre of the land hemisphere, and is therefore located at 47°13′S 178°28′E﻿ / ﻿47.217°S 178.467°E﻿ / -47.217; 178.467 (near New Zealand's Bounty Islands in the Pacific Ocean).

An alternative assignment determines the centre of the land hemisphere to be at 47°24′42″N 2°37′15″W﻿ / ﻿47.411667°N 2.620833°W﻿ / 47.411667; -2.620833 (in Île Dumet [fr] near Piriac-sur-Mer, France).[2][3] The centre of the water hemisphere is located at 47°24′42″S 177°22′45″E﻿ / ﻿47.411667°S 177.379167°E﻿ / -47.411667; 177.379167 (near New Zealand's Bounty Islands in the Pacific Ocean).

## Distribution of geographical features

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The land hemisphere has the substantial majority of the planet's land (80.1 percent), including nearly all of Asia (with Maritime Southeast Asia being the only notable exception) and most of South America. Africa, Europe, and North America are solely within the land hemisphere. However, even in the land hemisphere, the water area still slightly exceeds the land area (with 53 percent water to 47 percent land). This hemisphere is almost identical to the hemisphere containing the greatest human population.[4] The land hemisphere also contains most of Earth's inland waters, including the African Great Lakes, Eurasia's Caspian Sea, the Great Lakes of North America, and Lake Baikal in Siberia.

The water hemisphere has only about one-fifth of the world's land, including Easter Island, the Hawaiian Islands, other Pacific islands, Maritime Southeast Asia, the southern tip of the Indochinese Peninsula, the southern portion of the Malay Peninsula, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, and the Southern Cone of the Americas. Antarctica, Australia, and Zealandia are solely within the water hemisphere. Some sources[1] further divide land into "dry land" and "ice cap". Antarctica provides the water hemisphere with the majority of Earth's ice.

Most of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and the whole Southern Ocean, are in the water hemisphere. The water hemisphere is approximately 89 percent water (almost all pertaining to the World Ocean), 6 percent dry land and 5 percent polar ice cap.[1]

The table below shows Alphonse Berget's estimates of the land area in each continent in the land and water hemispheres.[2]

Continent  | Land area within each hemisphere
km2 (sq mi)

|

Land  | Water
Africa | 29,818,400 (11,512,949)  | 0 (0)
Americas | 34,955,670 (13,496,460)  | 3,391,010 (1,309,276)
Antarctica | 0 (0)  | 13,120,000 (5,065,660)
Asia | 40,897,241 (15,790,513)  | 3,245,649 (1,253,152)
Europe | 9,732,250 (3,757,643)  | 0 (0)
Oceania | 0 (0)  | 8,958,630 (3,458,946)
Total land area | 115,403,561 (44,557,564)  | 28,715,289 (11,087,035)

## See also

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* Geographical centre of Earth
* Ocean world

## References

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1. ^ a b c Boggs, Samuel Whittemore (December 1945). "This Hemisphere". Journal of Geography. 44 (9): 345–355. doi:10.1080/00221344508986498.
2. ^ a b Berget, Alphonse (1913). "Répartition géographique des Océans (détermination du pôle continental)". Annales de l'Institut océanographique. 10 (in French). V.
3. ^ "L'ILE DUMET: LE NOMBRIL DU MONDE". France Secret (in French). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
4. ^ "How Much of Humanity is on Your Side of World?". Brilliant Maps. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

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Earth's primary regions and subregions

Worlds|

* Arab World
* Down Under
* New World
* Old World
* Three/Four Worlds
* First World
* Second World
* Third World
* Fourth World

Hemispheres|

* Eastern Hemisphere
* Land Hemisphere
* Northern Hemisphere
* Southern Hemisphere
* Water Hemisphere
* Western Hemisphere

Landmasses|

* Africa-Eurasia
* Eurasia
* America
* Antarctica
* Australia
* Zealandia
* submerged
* Tectonic plates

Continents|

| Africa|

* Mediterranean
* Saharan
* Northern
* Maghreb
* Mashriq
* Middle East
* Middle East and North Africa
* Sub-Saharan
* Central
* East
* Horn
* Great Lakes
* Southern
* Western

|

Antarctica|

* East Antarctica
* Antarctic Plateau
* Transantarctic Mountains
* West Antarctica
* Antarctic Peninsula

Asia|

* Asia–Pacific
* Central
* Aral Sea
* Aralkum Desert
* Caspian Sea
* Eastern
* Inner Asia
* Greater Central Asia
* Northeastern
* Far East
* Pacific Asia
* Russian Far East
* Northern
* Siberia
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* Southeastern
* Mainland
* Maritime
* Southern
* Himalayan states
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* Subregions
* Western
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* Caucasus
* South Caucasus
* Greater Iran
* Iranian plateau
* Levant
* Dead Sea
* Levantine Sea
* Middle East
* Mashriq
* Middle East and North Africa
* Near East

Europe|

* Central
* Eastern
* Balkans
* Caucasus
* North Caucasus
* South Caucasus
* Southern Russia
* European Russia
* Southeastern
* Northern
* Baltic
* British Isles
* Nordic
* Northwestern
* Scandinavia
* Scandinavian Peninsula
* Southern
* Mediterranean
* Middle East
* Italy
* Italian Peninsula
* South-eastern
* Balkan Peninsula
* South-western
* Iberian Peninsula
* Western
* Atlantic
* Low Countries
* Northwestern
* Celtic
* Germanic
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North America|

* Aridoamerica
* Caribbean
* Central
* Mesoamerica
* Middle
* Northern
* Appalachia
* Bible Belt
* East Coast
* Great Lakes
* Mid-Atlantic
* Midwest
* Mountain states
* New England
* Northeastern United States
* Pacific Northwest
* Southern United States
* Southwest
* West Coast
* West South Central United States
* Western United States
* Atlantic Canada
* Canadian Prairies
* Central Canada
* Eastern Canada
* Northern Canada
* Western Canada
* Northern Mexico
* West Indies
* Anglo
* French
* Latin
* Ibero
* Hispanic
* Portuguese
* Latin America and the Caribbean

Oceania|

* Australasia
* Australia
* Mainland Australia
* New Guinea
* Tasmania
* Zealandia
* Melanesia
* Island Melanesia
* Micronesia
* Near Oceania
* Polynesia
* Remote Oceania

South America|

* Amazon Plain
* Amazon Basin
* Amazon Rainforest
* Andean States
* Brazilian Highlands
* Caribbean South America
* The Guianas
* Latin America and the Caribbean
* Southern Cone
* Patagonia

Islands|

| By continent|

* Africa
* America
* North America
* Caribbean
* Central America
* South America
* Antarctica
* Asia
* Europe
* by area
* by population
* Oceania
* Australia
* New Zealand

|

By ocean|

* Arctic Ocean
* Atlantic Ocean
* Baltic Sea
* Black Sea
* Caribbean Sea
* Irish Sea
* Mediterranean Sea
* Adriatic Sea
* Aegean Sea
* Ionian Sea
* Indian Ocean
* Persian Gulf
* Pacific Ocean
* East China Sea
* South China Sea
* Southern Ocean

Oceans|

* Antarctic/Southern Ocean
* Antarctic Convergence
* Arctic Ocean
* Atlantic Ocean
* Indian Ocean
* Pacific Ocean
* Great Barrier Reef
* Mariana Trench
* Ring of Fire
* World Ocean

Other waterbodies|

* Lakes
* lists
* Rivers
* Seas

Rim|

* Atlantic Rim
* Indo-Mediterranean
* Indian Ocean Rim
* Mediterranean Rim
* Pacific Rim

Polar|

* Antarctic
* Arctic

Global|

* Global East
* Global Heartland
* Global North
* Global Northeast
* Global Northwest
* Global South
* Global Southeast
* Global Southwest
* Global West

* Continents of Earth / List of seas / Physical Earth

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