BoundaryLines
InordertoavoiddividingsomecountriesinEuropeandAfricaintotheeasternandwesternhemispheres,itiscustomarytodividethewestlongitude20°westandeastlongitude160°east(20°W——160°E)ThehalfoftheearthiscalledtheWesternHemisphere.ThewesternhemispherehasallofSouthAmerica,themainpartofNorthAmerica,asmallpartofnortheasternAsia,asmallpartofthewestofAfrica,asmallpartofthewestofEurope,asmallpartoftheeastofOceania,andapartofthewestofAntarctica.TherearemainlyNorthAmericaandSouthAmerica.
Proportionoflandandsea
Thelandofthewesternhemisphereaccountsfor19.1%;theoceanaccountsfor80.9%
Countrydivision
Overviewofdivision
TherearethreemethodsforthedivisionofSouthAmericaandNorthAmericaintheWesternHemisphere:
Specificdivision
1)TakingthePanamaCanalasthedividingline,itisdividedintoSouthAmericaandNorthAmerica.
2)Takingthelanguagefamilyasthedividingline,dividetheUnitedStatesanditsnortherncountriesintoNorthAmerica,anddividetheUnitedStatessouth
intoLatinAmerica(becauseoftheMostresidentsspeakLatinlanguages).
3)Basedonthesparsenessofthecountry,theMexicoandthecountriesnorthofitaredividedintoNorthAmerica,thecountriessouthofMexicoandthecountriesnorthofColombia(includingtheWestIndies)aredividedintoCentralAmerica,DivideColombiaandthecountriessouthofitintoSouthAmerica.
Majorcountries
SouthAmerica:Colombia,Venezuela,Guyana,Suriname,Ecuador,Peru,Brazil,Bolivia,Chile,Paraguay,Uruguay,Argentina12independentcountriesandFrenchGuiana,MalvinasIslands(FalklandIslands)2regions.
NorthAmerica:Bahamas,Belize,UnitedStates,Barbados,Canada,CostaRica,Cuba,ElSalvador,Grenada,Guatemala,Honduras,Haiti,Jamaica,SaintLucia,Mexico,Nicaragua,Panama,Dominica,DominicaNick,SaintVincentandtheGrenadines,TrinidadandTobago,AntiguaandBarbuda,SaintKittsandNevis,PuertoRico,NetherlandsAntilles.Largestcity:NewYork,thelargestcityinthesouthernhemisphere:SaoPaulo