🌍 McGraw-Hill Networks Student Edition • W2D2 (Page 29)
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Hemispheres Visual Reference
Hemispheres of Earth Diagram
🌐 Northern Hemisphere North of the Equator. Contains North America, Europe, Asia, and North Pole.
🌐 Southern Hemisphere South of the Equator. Contains South America, Australia, and Antarctica.
🧭 Western Hemisphere West of the Prime Meridian. Contains North America and South America.
🧭 Eastern Hemisphere East of the Prime Meridian. Contains Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
29-A McGraw-Hill Networks Social Studies • Lesson 1 Visuals

Hemispheres

To find a place on the Earth, geographers use a system of imaginary lines that crisscross the globe. The Equator (ih·KWAY·tuhr) is one of these lines. It circles the middle of the Earth like a belt. It divides the Earth into “half spheres,” or hemispheres (HEH·muh·sfihrz). Everything north of the Equator is in the Northern Hemisphere. Everything south of the Equator is in the Southern Hemisphere. In which of these hemispheres do you live?

Another imaginary line divides the Earth into Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This line is called the Prime Meridian. Generally, the area east of the Prime Meridian is in the Eastern Hemisphere. Everything west of the Prime Meridian is in the Western Hemisphere.

📍 Geographer's Inquiry

Dividing the Earth into hemispheres helps geographers locate places on the planet’s surface. Which oceans are located in the Western Hemisphere? Which oceans are located in the Eastern Hemisphere?

📚 Reading HELPDESK • Content Vocabulary
Content Vocabulary
• special-purpose map
• choropleth
• scale
• migration
• cardinal directions
• culture
hemisphere 🔊

noun — a “half sphere,” used to refer to one-half of the globe when divided into North and South or East and West.

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