The Western Hemisphere is the half of Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (0° longitude, running through Greenwich, London) and east of the 180th meridian.

Quick Scoop: Where Is the Western Hemisphere?

Think of Earth as a sphere sliced from top to bottom by imaginary lines called meridians. The Western Hemisphere is one of those halves.

  • It extends from the North Pole all the way down to the South Pole.
  • Its eastern edge is the Prime Meridian near London.
  • Its western edge is the 180th meridian, which runs mostly through the Pacific Ocean.

In everyday use, many people say “Western Hemisphere” when they mostly mean the Americas (North and South America).

What Land Is in the Western Hemisphere?

Geographically, it’s more than just the Americas.

  • All of North and South America (with tiny exceptions in the far Aleutian Islands).
  • Western parts of Europe (for example, Portugal and parts of Spain, France, and the UK).
  • Western parts of Africa (sections of West Africa fall west of the Prime Meridian).
  • The far eastern tip of Russia (Chukotka) and some Pacific islands in Oceania.
  • A large portion of Antarctica.

Small HTML table (regions)

html

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Region</th>
    <th>In the Western Hemisphere?</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>North & South America</td>
    <td>Mostly yes (core of the hemisphere)</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Western Europe (e.g., Portugal, parts of Spain, France, UK)</td>
    <td>Partly yes</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Western Africa</td>
    <td>Partly yes</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eastern Russia (Chukotka)</td>
    <td>Small part</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Oceania (some Pacific islands)</td>
    <td>Some islands</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Antarctica</td>
    <td>Large sector</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Why People Get Confused

You’ll see two common ways people use “Western Hemisphere.”

  1. Strict geographical definition
    • Everything between the Prime Meridian and the 180th meridian.
  1. Common everyday usage
    • Used as shorthand for “the Americas” or “the New World” in politics, history, and news.

So if you hear something like “Western Hemisphere trade” in the news, they often mean countries in North and South America, even though the true hemisphere extends into parts of Europe, Africa, and beyond.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.