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eastern hemisphere

n. (alternative spelling of Eastern Hemisphere English)

WordNet
eastern hemisphere

n. the hemisphere that includes Eurasia and Africa and Australia [syn: orient]

Wikipedia
Eastern Hemisphere

The Eastern Hemisphere is a geographical term for the half of the earth that is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, England) and west of the antimeridian on the opposite side of the planet. It is also used to refer to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, in contrast with the Western Hemisphere, which includes North and South America). This hemisphere may also be called the "Oriental Hemisphere". In addition, it may be used in a cultural or geopolitical sense as a synonym for the " Old World".

The line demarcating the Eastern and Western Hemispheres is an arbitrary convention, unlike the Equator (an imaginary line encircling the earth, equidistant from its poles) which divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The prime meridian at 0° longitude and the antimeridian, at 180° longitude are the conventionally accepted boundaries, since they divide eastern longitudes from western longitudes. This convention was established in 1884 at the International Meridian Conference held in Washington, D.C. where the standard time concepts of Canadian railroad engineer Sir Sandford Fleming were adopted. Using this demarcation puts portions of Western Europe, Africa and eastern Russia in the Western Hemisphere, thereby diluting its usefulness as a geopolitical construct, since all of Eurasia and Africa are typically included in the Eastern Hemisphere. Consequently, the meridians of 20°W and the diametrically opposed 160°E are often used, which includes all of the European and African mainlands, but also includes a small portion of northeast Greenland (typically reckoned as part of North America) and excludes more of eastern Russia and Oceania (e.g., New Zealand). Prior to the global adoption of standard time, numerous prime meridians were decreed by various countries where time was defined by local noon (thereby, local meridian).

The land mass of the Eastern Hemisphere is larger than that of the Western Hemisphere and has a wide variety of habitats.

Usage examples of "eastern hemisphere".

This is an ultimate settling of accounts before the whole Eastern Hemisphere catches fire.

The ship entered geosynchronous orbit above the eastern hemisphere.

Worldshaping had commenced in Selvaris's eastern hemisphere, and was said to be creeping around the planet at the rate of two hundred kilometers per local day.

The marshal had made it his HQ for the Eastern Hemisphere Defense Command, and a brief flicker of shared memory flashed between them as their eyes met.

Japan and the rest of the Eastern hemisphere was being unfairly left behind.

They were not green but pinkish-gray, marking them as members of the kindred race, the nildoror of the eastern hemisphere.