On the contrary, it makes the most sense to place some point of the equator on top, so that you can rotate to look at any part of the globe you want, surely?

It's a lot easier to add the rest of the solar system if it rotates around the Earth horizontally, and you need that to explain the day/night cycle, seasons and tides.

Call me weird if you must, but I would prefer a globe rotate in the same fashion as the planet does: around the poles.

That's perfectly compatible with the poles being on the sides and the equator being on a vertical plane. In fact, many globes can be tilted to this position and the main rotation still happens around the poles.

Granted, but surely that would place "all points" on the equator "on top" rather than "some point"?

You're right, I spoke imprecisely. Some point on top to begin with, any other equatorial point you want with a quick spin.

They all do, but you can have more than one dimension of rotation.

Look at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085K2ZPWB/ .

You're still free to spin the earth backwards, though.

Interesting, so a globe on a 90 degree axial tilt rather than a 23 degree one. I'm sure I've seen such (either fixed at 90 degees or variable from 0-90 degrees), but I can't see any after a quick browser online.

But if the majority of the population lives in the northern hemisphere, shouldn't that make it heavier and thus flip the earth, placing the south pole on the top?

For one, the southern hemisphere is mostly water.

I think there is, actually: The Milky Way Galaxy. South is "down" towards the center, North is "up" towards the exterior. It was a revelation to realize this after growing up looking at the Milky Way in Northern Europe, that we're somewhat stationary in relation to the galaxy.

Can you explain this more? I do not understand this

The galactic center roughly aligns with the constellation Sagittarius, which is considered a southern constellation.

If you try to do milky way astrophotography in the northern hemisphere you quickly find out you are limited to the late spring / early summer, because you want to be seeing the southern sky at night. Most of the year the sun is too close to Sagittarius during daylight hours, making viewing impossible.

no, just most people lives on top that's all.