What are the Hemispheres?

  The equator is an imaginary line drawn around the outside of the Earth. It divides the Earth into two halves,called hemispheres. It was invented by Mapmakers because it makes a convenient point from which to measure distances North and South. A hemisphere is the name given to any half of the globe, including the Earth. It is derived from the Greek for half a sphere. For convenience, the geographers divide the Earth into hemispheres with the equator as a boundary. Everything north of the equator is Northern Hemisphere, which everything to South lies is the Southern Hemisphere. The equator lies at an equal distance from the geographic north and south poles. As the land is not disturbed evenly across the surface of the Earth, the globe may also be divided into land and water hemispheres, the former centred near London and the latter near New Zealand.