Interesting Maps

Is it saying that the North of Ireland is further north than Northern Ireland? Or is it about the unresolved demarcation line in Lough Foyle?

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Likely because water flows downhill.

Australia in the west?

There's no way you haven't heard of Greenwich/GMT and the timezones. I think you are just having trouble visualisting that in 3 dimensions. It's pretty common knowledge I'd have thought.

I'd argue that time zones, and more importantly, the international date line, have clear scientific and geographic basis.

Why do we need northern and southern hemispheres? They serve no purpose other than establishing demarcation. East and west and no different.

I think the "The West" "Western world" "Western Hemisphere" are probably American invented terms that they promoted over the years and has stuck, even though it is just a political invention.

The East was the USSR, Warsaw pact countries and Communist China. But even though there are a number of so called western world countries geographically in the east, such as Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands etc

I've only heard of Australia being regarded as a western country. Of course that's a cultural/political reference but I can't say I've ever heard, or read about Australia being in the east or eastern hemisphere, and I think that's because there is not really such a thing in most people's minds.

Yes, we all know about time zones and that it starts at zero in Greenwich but that doesn't mean most people view that line as dividing the globe into a western and eastern half.

The vast majority will use 'western' to refer to a group of countries scattered around the planet who tend to align politically. We refer to eastern Europe because it's in the eastern parts of Europe; the middle and far east similarly because of proximity to Europe. There's nobody saying let's go on holiday to the eastern country of Belgium.

I agree with the guy above who said we need to have a starting point for timezones, so yeah, that's obviously a good point for why a line is needed but doesn't mean it's necessarily a dividing line into two spheres.

There's a newer term "global south" which excludes Australia and New Zealand too despite them clearly being in the south.

Western world is more political than geographic

There were many meridians used over the centuries. Often based on limited world knowledges (it was west of Iceland in the Middle Ages). The international date line as the anti-meridian to Greenwich, is in the middle of the pacific.

Many other meridians would have put the date line on a land mass. That’d mean it’s Tuesday in one place, in the next town over it’s still Monday. that’s obviously less practical.

Co-ordinating the date line with the works largest body of water rather than a land mass is a geographic consideration.