The equator is straddled by thirteen countries. One of them is Uganda, which is where I crossed the dividing line between the hemispheres overland for the first time in 2025. Can you name the other twelve equatorial countries? Reveal at the end of this post.

Kayabwe, Uganda

We stopped off on our journey to Entebbe on the Masaka-Kampala highway to take refreshment and of course stand with a leg in each hemisphere.

We were then given a demonstration of the Coriolis effect that sees water drain clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. At latitude 0 the water drains straight down with no spin.

Some theorists claim that this is not a true phenomenon and that the demonstrations are a trick caused by the angle of the bowl where the water drains. Whatever the truth, the demonstration was convincing enough for us.

After the inevitable photo opportunities we had coffee and cake straddling the hemispheres, before continuing to our hotel on the shores of Lake Victoria.

So which countries straddle the equator?

Three in South America (Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil), seven in Africa (São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, Congo, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia), and three island nations in Asia/Oceania (Maldives, Indonesia, Kiribati).

How many did you get?