Northern Hemisphere

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Northern Hemisphere highlighted in yellow.

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet's surface (or celestial sphere) that is north of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'). On the Earth, the Northern Hemisphere contains most of the land and about 88-90% of the population.

In the temperate regions of the hemisphere, winter lasts from December to February (though winter weather can begin as early as September and last into May or even June in arctic regions) and Summer from June to August.

The Earth's perihelion, during which its orbital motion is fastest, occurs in January. In theory, northern hemisphere winters would therefore tend to be shorter and less severe than southern hemisphere winters at equivalent latitudes, but in practice, the moderating effect of the larger southern hemisphere oceans more than compensates for this effect. Tropical regions tend to experience a rainy season during the 'summer' months, and a dry season during the 'winter' months.

Regions north of the Arctic Circle will experience some days in summer on which the sun never sets, and some days in winter on which the sun never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for places right on the Arctic circle to several months near the North Pole itself.

In temperate and polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere most of the year, the sun passes from east to west in the south, causing sun-cast shadows to turn clockwise through the day. In the tropics, the noonday sun is always virtually overhead, but will sometimes be in the south and sometimes in the north.

Continents and countries on Earth's Northern Hemisphere

Continents in the northern hemisphere:

Asia (Indonesia is primarily in the southern hemisphere)
Europe
North America
A small part of South America, north of the Amazon river
About 2/3 of Africa, north of the Congo river

Countries primarily in the northern hemisphere that are in Africa:

Countries primarily in the northern hemisphere that are southeast of Asia:

Countries primarily in the northern hemisphere that are in South America:

Northern Hemisphere

Continents and countries on Earth's Northern Hemisphere

See also