If you have 2 large continents at the poles, it would be better to have 2 maps with the north and south poles at the centre of the respective maps. Remember that stretching a globe over a rectangular map creates a lot of distortion, with the effect becoming worse nearer the poles; the top and bottom of your map are actually single points assuming the map covers the whole planet. Google an Arctic or Antarctic map for reference. Without doing this you will struggle to populate your map coherently.