Africa: The only continent that touches upon all four hemispheres
Do you know which is the only continent spread across all hemispheres? That is Africa. While majority of Africa is located in the eastern hemisphere, a small portion lies in the western hemisphere. Two-thirds is located in the northern hemisphere and one-third lies in the southern hemisphere. Let’s understand how!
Africa lies in all four hemispheres
Now, if you’ll pick up the globe and check, you will find that out of the seven main continents, Africa is the only continent that lies in all four hemispheres. This also implies that Africa is the only continent to have land both at the Equator and the Prime Meridian or that the equator and Prime Meridian both pass through many countries in Africa.
Equator divides north and south hemispheres
So, you may know that the equator is an imaginary line that is equidistant from the North and South Poles. Simply put, the equator divides the Earth into two halves horizontally - north and south. You can also say that the equator is the line of zero degrees latitude around the middle of Earth and is the diving line between the northern and southern hemispheres.
The region which is north of the equator is called the northern hemisphere while the part lying in the south is the southern hemisphere.
Prime Meridian divides east and west
Similarly, like the equator divides the Earth horizontally, the line of the Prime Meridian divides the Earth into western and eastern hemispheres longitudinally or vertically. Prime Meridian is the line of zero degrees longitude.
The western hemisphere occupies the geographic space west of the prime meridian and the eastern hemisphere lies on the east of the Meridian.
Countries where the Equator and Prime Meridian pass
Want to know which countries they both pass through? The Equator passes through a total of 11 countries out of which seven lie in Africa. Starting from the west to the east these countries are: the island country of São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia. An interesting fact for you to know here is that all these countries through which the equator passes have a tropical climate characterised by high temperatures and high humidity. This is because the equator is located in the tropics.
Similarly, the Prime Meridian crosses through a total of eight countries, five of which lie in Africa. Starting from north to south, these countries are: Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ghana.
Where do equator and Prime Meridien meet?
Another bonus fact for you. Do you know what is the place called where both equator and the Prime Meridian meet? That intersecting point of zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude is located on Null island in the Atlantic ocean.