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• Western Hemisphere
  Western Hemisphere

  noun

  the western part of the terrestrial globe, roughly extending from the prime meridian west to the antimeridian: sometimes considered synonymous with the New World because the Americas are its primary composition, the Western Hemisphere technically extends into western Eurasia and Africa, easternmost Siberia, and part of Antarctica as well.
• western hemisphere
  western hemisphere

  noun

  that half of the globe containing the Americas, lying to the west of the Greenwich or another meridian

Western Hemisphere

American  

[wes-tern hem-i-sfeer] / ˈwɛs tərn ˈhɛm ɪˌsfɪər /

noun

1. the western part of the terrestrial globe, roughly extending from the prime meridian west to the antimeridian: sometimes considered synonymous with the New World because the Americas are its primary composition, the Western Hemisphere technically extends into western Eurasia and Africa, easternmost Siberia, and part of Antarctica as well.

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western hemisphere British  

noun

1. that half of the globe containing the Americas, lying to the west of the Greenwich or another meridian

2. the lands contained in this, esp the Americas

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Western Hemisphere Scientific  

/ wĕs′tərn /

1. The half of the Earth that includes North America, Central America, and South America, as divided roughly by the 0° and 180° meridians.

2. See more at prime meridian

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Etymology

Origin of Western Hemisphere

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Western Hemisphere western hemisphere

Fuego, one of the most active volcanoes in the Western Hemisphere, started spewing lava and ash on Monday.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

In the short term, it will probably drive some countries back to burning coal and accelerate oil drilling in the Western Hemisphere.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

The Haitian Revolution may seem out of place in an exhibition celebrating the U.S., but Haiti was the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

Overall, the Western Hemisphere now produces more oil than the Middle East did before the crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Laboratory tests showed that the bones could be fifteen thousand years old—possibly the oldest human remains in the Western Hemisphere.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Kelty is worried that with the onset of the summer planting season in the western hemisphere, the lack of fertilizer could reduce crop yields and lead to higher inflation going forward.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026

He died even after receiving treatment, the first documented such instance in the western hemisphere.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2023

The rule highlights work the U.S. has done to improve legal migration in other countries across the western hemisphere and touts asylum successes in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2023

I meet a group of women from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, which had one of the highest rates of recruitment to IS in the western hemisphere.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2021

Homo sapiens was the first and only human species to reach the western hemisphere landmass, arriving about 16,000 years ago, that is in or around 14,000 BC.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari