View source for South

{{short description|One of the four cardinal directions}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Southward|people with the surname Southward|Southward (surname)}}
[[File:Compass Rose English South.svg|thumb|250px|right|A 16-point [[compass rose]] with south highlighted at the bottom]]
'''South''' is one of the [[cardinal direction]]s or [[Points of the compass|compass points]]. The direction is the opposite of [[north]] and is [[perpendicular]] to both [[west]] and [[east]].

==Etymology==
The word ''south'' comes from [[Old English]] ''sūþ'', from earlier [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] ''*sunþaz'' ("south"), possibly related to the same [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root that the word ''sun'' derived from. Some languages describe south in the same way, from the fact that it is the direction of the sun at noon (in the Northern Hemisphere),<ref>{{Cite web|title=How to use a Compass – Compass alone|url=https://www.learn-orienteering.org/old/lesson1.html|access-date=2020-07-16|website=www.learn-orienteering.org}}</ref> like Latin meridies 'noon, south' (from medius 'middle' + dies 'day', {{langx|en|{{cf.|meridional}}}}), while others describe south as the right-hand side of the rising sun, like Biblical Hebrew תֵּימָן teiman 'south' from יָמִין yamin 'right', Aramaic תַּימנַא taymna from יָמִין yamin 'right' and Syriac ܬܰܝܡܢܳܐ taymna from ܝܰܡܝܺܢܳܐ yamina (hence the name of [[Yemen]], the land to the south/right of the [[Levant]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=yemen {{!}} Origin and meaning of the name yemen by Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/yemen|access-date=2020-07-16|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en}}</ref>).

South is sometimes abbreviated as '''S'''.

==Navigation==
[[File:Joaquín_Torres_García_-_América_Invertida.jpg|thumb|''[[América Invertida]]'', drawn in 1943, by [[Joaquín Torres-García|Joaquín Torres García]]]]
By [[Norm (sociology)|convention]], the ''bottom or down-facing side'' of a [[map]] is south, although [[reversed map]]s exist that defy this convention.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/ |title=The Upsidedown Map Page |publisher=flourish.org |access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> To go south using a compass for [[navigation]], set a [[Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] or [[azimuth]] of 180°. Alternatively, in the [[Northern Hemisphere]] outside the [[tropics]], the [[Sun]] will be roughly in the south at [[midday]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learn-orienteering.org/old/lesson1.html |title=How to use a compass |publisher=Learn Orienteering |access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

==South Pole==
True south is one end of the axis about which the [[Earth]] rotates, called the [[South Pole]]. The South Pole is located in [[Antarctica]]. [[South Magnetic Pole|Magnetic south]] is the direction towards the south [[Earth's magnetic field|magnetic pole]], some distance away from the south geographic pole.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/geomagnetism-frequently-asked-questions |title=Geomagnetism Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=National Geophysical Data Center |access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

[[Roald Amundsen]], from [[Norway]], was the first person to [[Amundsen's South Pole expedition|reach the South Pole]], on 14 December 1911, after [[Ernest Shackleton]] from the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UK]] was forced to turn back some distance short.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ice/peopleevents/pandeAMEX87.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000129220238/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ice/peopleevents/pandeAMEX87.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 29, 2000 |title=Roald Amundsen |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

==Geography==
The [[North–South divide in the World|Global South]] refers to the socially and economically less-developed southern half of the globe. 95% of the Global North has enough food and shelter, and a functioning education system.<ref name=mimko/> In the South, on the other hand, only 5% of the population has enough food and shelter. It "lacks appropriate technology, it has no political stability, the economies are disarticulated, and their foreign exchange earnings depend on primary product exports".<ref name=mimko>{{cite book |last=Mimiko |first=Oluwafemi |title=Globalization: The Politics of Global Economic Relations and International Business |year=2012 |publisher=Carolina Academic |page=47}}</ref>

Use of the term "South" may also be country-relative, particularly in cases of noticeable economic or cultural divide. For example, the [[Southern United States]], separated from the [[Northeastern United States]] by the [[Mason–Dixon line]], or the [[Southern England|South of England]], which is politically and economically unmatched with all of the [[Northern England|North of England]].

[[Southern Cone]] is the name that is often referred to as the southernmost area of [[South America]] that, in the form of an inverted "cone", almost like a large peninsula, encompasses [[Argentina]], [[Chile]], [[Paraguay]], [[Uruguay]] and the entire South of [[Brazil]] (Brazilian states of [[Rio Grande do Sul]], [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]], [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]] and [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]]). Rarely does the meaning broaden to [[Bolivia]], and in the most restricted sense it only covers [[Chile]], [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]].

The country of [[South Africa]] is so named because of its location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the [[Union of South Africa]] in English, reflecting its origin from the unification of four formerly separate British colonies. [[Australia]] derives its name from the Latin [[Terra Australis]] ("Southern Land"), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times.

==Other uses==
In the card game [[contract bridge|bridge]], one of the players is known for scoring purposes as South. South partners with North and plays against East and West.<ref>{{OEB|6|81}}</ref>

In Greek religion, Notos, was the south wind and bringer of the storms of late summer and autumn.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{CandODirections}}

[[Category:Orientation (geometry)]]