  south is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. it is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. south the polar opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west. ==etymology== the word south comes from old english sÅ«Ã¾, from earlier proto-germanic *sunÃ¾az ("south"), possibly related to the same proto-indo-european root that gave us the word sun. ==navigation== by convention, the bottom side of a map is south, although reversed maps exist that defy this convention. to go south using a compass for navigation, set a bearing or azimuth of 180Â°. alternatively, in the northern hemisphere the sun will be roughly in the south at midday. ==south pole== true south is the direction towards the southern end of the axis about which the earth rotates, called the south pole. the south pole is located in antarctica. magnetic south is the direction towards the south magnetic pole, some distance away from the south geographic pole. roald amundsen was the first to reach the south pole, on 14 december 1911, after ernest shackleton was forced to turn back some distance short. ==geography== the global south refers to the less socially and economically developed southern half of the globe. 95% of the global north has enough food and shelter, and a functioning education system. 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." use of the term 'south' may also be country-relative, particularly in cases of
Orientation_(geometry)