Comment on The "western hemisphere" rubs me the wrong way
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 4 days ago
The prime meridian is a completely arbitrary line and the “western hemisphere” (defined in terms of it) is equally arbitrary. We need a prime meridian though, if only in order to draw the international date line on the opposite side of it.
dgdft@lemmy.world 4 days ago
The prime meridian roughly separates the two major clusters of land mass on the planet, which have undergone wildly different patterns of human settlement and development.
The line itself is arbitrary, but the concept of the hemispheres as shorthand geopolitical labels for these clusters is very much not arbitrary.
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 4 days ago
If that were the goal it would be further west so that all of Europe and Africa would be east of it.