What is the Meaning & Definition of South

Initially the concept of South has a geographic dimension. It is a reference for guidance in our planet along with the other three cardinal points, i.e., North, East and West.
The cardinal points as reference system are essential for the orientation, both by land and by sea. This system of location in space comes of the ancient world, when the position of the stars was not sufficient for navigation and it was necessary to devise a more reliable and accurate references. Thus, the four cardinal points are established from the solar movement, which rises East or East and sets at the end of the day by the West or West. Taking these two dimensions as the axis of reference, an individual can establish where the North and, therefore, also South, that it is precisely their opposite cardinal point.
For this location with precision was invented the compass that always points in the direction of the North. As for the invention of the compass, the historians agree that were originally the Chinese who 2000 years ago began to orient themselves in a North South direction using magnetite, a stone with magnetic properties that also is oriented in the same direction.

The South as a socio-political concept

Apart from the geographical sense, the South is a concept with a range of social and political implications. If we think of our planet we have a curious reality: the countries of the northern hemisphere are more prosperous than the southern hemisphere. While there is no conclusive explanation that allows to understand the reason for this difference in wealth between the North and the South, many analysts believe that the climate factor favors the Nations of the North. The reason is quite simple: how much is better weather, less work and therefore production is lower.
Interestingly, in countries located in the northern hemisphere, the less-advanced territories are usually located in the South. In fact, analysts and experts have coined a very illustrative concept, the North-South gap. While the climate factor can be important, is that there are other aspects that explain the poverty of the South with respect to the opulence of the North (in the North of the planet English is the language that for decades has an indisputable international dimension because of the hegemony of United States and Great Britain).
If we take as a reference the phenomenon of migration, in the majority of cases migratory movements going from the South to the North. Another striking fact is the case of some Nations location:
1) Spain is located in the South of the northern hemisphere (and is a country poorer than the Nations of Northern Europe) and, at the same time, in the territory of Spain, the North is richer than the South,
2) Italy has a socio-political situation similar to Spain and 3) United States presents a remarkable social, economic and cultural difference between the States of the North and the South.
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.