History Main / HemisphereBias

See also CreatorProvincialism.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Averted in ''[[{{Tintin}} Explorers on the Moon]]''. In the view of "our good old Earth, seen from over 6,000 miles", South America and Africa are the most visible continents; Europe is obscured from readers by a protruding periscope.
* In anticipation of Creator/GrantMorrison's ''Comicbook/TheMultiversity'', DC Comics released a [[http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2014/08/18/the-map-of-the-multiverse map of the DC multiverse.]] Earth-23 is a world where most superheroes are black; the picture of the planet provided is centered on Africa. (Although note that all other signs point to the United States still being the center of attention there.)

* Maps made in Europe show Europe in the middle with Asia to the right and the Atlantic and North America to the left, with the International Date Line as the divider. East Asian maps show China/Japan in the middle with the Pacific and the Ameicas to the right and Eurasia to the left with the Atlantic as the divisor. Some maps made in Canada and the U.S. have the Americas in the center , with the Atlantic and half of Eurasia to the right, and the Pacific and East Asia to the left; the dividing line runs through Russia and India. There is usually some overlap so all India and parts of Russia can be seen side by side.

* Maps made in Europe show Europe in the middle with Asia to the sight and the Atlantic and North America to the left, with the International Date Line as the divider. East Asian maps show China/Japan in the middle with the Pacific and the Ameicas to the right and Eurasia to the left with the Atlantic as the divisor. Some maps made in Canada and the U.S. have the Americas in the center , with the Atlantic and half of Eurasia to the right, and the Pacific and East Asia to the left; the dividing line runs through Russia and India. There is usually some overlap so all India and parts of Russia can be seen side by side.

* Almost every map of the world shows it with the Northern Hemisphere at the top and the Greenwich Mean line at the center. From this point of view Europe is the center of the world. This is mainly because European culture spread so widely across the world. Europeans used the maps to navigate and thus centering their maps on Europe made for the most natural coordinate system (likewise the Chinese centered their maps on China). Since maps are no longer major tools of navigation many people have advocated for showing a greater diversity of maps and thus of world perspectives.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Book]]

[[folder: Film]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon "Haredevil Hare," Bugs Bunny, from on the Moon, admires the "beautiful Earth out tonight"; he's looking at the Western hemisphere, of course.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* During the Cold War, in a rare meeting between senior military commanders from East and West, the Russian general looked at an American map showing the world from the usual Western perspective, centered on the Greenwich Meridian. From this point of view the USSR seemed to be extremely far from the USA. He then led his American counterpart to a room where a large map was pinned on the wall showing the world centered on Moscow. He explained that from this angle, the USSR saw itself having enemies on all sides: Europe on its western border, Turkey and Israel along its southern border, China on eastern border, the USA ''directly'' the north (across the north pole).

** Even the "Blue Marble" photo, mentioned above as an exception to hemisphere bias, is actually an example of Northern Hemisphere Bias. When the photo was taken, the camera was oriented in such a position that north is on the bottom of the photo and south was on the top. When the photo is published it is always flipped around so that north is on top and south is on the bottom.

** Not entirely for laughs: the map the lobbyists propose is in fact a much more accurate representation of the shape and comparative scale of the continents of Earth, the problem with traditional maps (As well as the above-described national and hemispheric biases) being that any attempt to represent the surface of a sphere on a 2d plane is going to have shortcomings. The proposition to have the poles inverted so south is on top is perhaps absurd practically, though there is no real reason other than Western power and tradition for 'north' to mean 'up'. The president is shown being struck by the innaccuracy and injustice of the present map, if not actually considering it in his scope to do anything about the issue.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4CXY6TVBMc Spoofed]] by [[HarryEnfieldAndChums Harry Enfield]], where a fake Imperial-era PSA series has in its opening credits a shot of the Earth with a Russia-sized British Isles in view.

* Almost every map of the world shows it with the Northern Hemisphere at the top and the Greenwich Mean line at the center. From this point of view Europe is the center of the world. There was originally a good reason for this, Europeans used the maps to navigate and thus centering their maps on Europe made for the most natural coordinate system (likewise the Chinese centered their maps on China). The spread of European culture around the world spread the maps as well until they came to be seen as a standard. Since maps are no longer major tools of navigation many people have advocated for showing a greater diversity of maps and thus of world perspectives.

* The 1924 Soviet science fiction film ''Film/{{Aelita}}'' has the Queen of Mars fall in love with the protagonist while watching him via a telescope. Since our hero is naturally a good Soviet citizen most of the shots of Earth center on Eurasia.

* The 1924 Soviet science fiction film ''Aelita'' has the Queen of Mars fall in love with the protagonist while watching him via a telescope. Since our hero is naturally a good Soviet citizen most of the shots of Earth center on Eurasia.