Where in the World ?

Quick query related to a project that I'm working on...

Here's an image.
Where do you think this is, and what are you using to come up with your answer ?


Image copyright: Gerald Traufetter / DER SPIEGEL

Comments

Anonymous said…
My guess, most likely way out. I reckon it is a rich country based on the building style, the ports and the hints at high order services. The vegetation would suggest it is a cold climate, so I am guessing somewhere Northern such as Greenland. Bet I am way off and it turns out to be Antarctica....

Matt Potter
Alan Parkinson said…
Thanks Matt - much appreciated...
Matt said…
Me thinks somewhere like Iceland or Alaska. Cold climate clues are the vegetation, steep roofs and number of 4X4 vehicles. Perhaps remote as there seems to be a large satellite receiver on the far hill side. Fishing and fish processing would appear to be the primary industry and perhaps an area of high relief too.
Anonymous said…
It appears rich, and by looks of vegetation and open bedrock, cold and also recently (geologically) covered by ice. Small Marina suggests it is a permanent, domestic settlement rather than a research station which would rule out Antarctica. Therefore, most likely Arctic, and Scandinavian in origin due to use of brightly coloured homes. Hence, would guess somewhere in Greenland

Phil Wood
petergknight said…
Looks both Scandinavian and Arctic. I'm basing that on the architecture (little coloured wooden boxes), the geomorphology (looks like ice-scoured bedrock with limited soil development), and the biogeography (what, no trees?). At first I thought Greenland, but perhaps the whole scene looks a little too civilised for that (shiny cars etc). The Geology looks wrong for Iceland (light coloured intrusive igneous or metamorphics by the look of it here, and for Iceland I expect darker volcanics), and I'm not seeing the strong horizontal strata that I associate with Svalbard or Faeroes. So then I went for Norway. But in the end the oil tanks, cables and other clutter just made be think this was pretty remote so I went back to Greenland. 1st choice Greenland. 2nd choice Norway.
Jane Kilpatrick said…
The physical geography with the shape of the coastline, geology and vegetation puts me in mind of western Ireland, specifically Kerry or West Cork. It could also be western Galway or even parts of Donegal. Have been to places not too dissimilar in western Scotland as well.

The human geography is a puzzle though. The leisure craft in the harbour, presence of a marina and bungalows competing for a sea view say "touriism". The unfettered development and unhidden gas tanks suggest otherwise. It's the same unfettered development which makes me suspicious. Where in the world would development like this be allowed in a place of such obvious natural beauty? I could guess at Japan with its limited flat land but I don't want to believe that this would be condoned anywhere. So that's what leads me to my guess - someone has been at Photoshop to add overdevelopment to a photo is somewhere on the west coast, probably of Ireland but not necessarily so....
Alan Parkinson said…
Thanks Matt.
Good image investigation... plenty of clues there...
Anonymous said…
kirkenes
Ms. Deyenberg said…
Newfoundland - the colour of the buildings, rugged coastline, harbour, car on right hand side of the road...
Alan Parkinson said…
Thanks Jen, Peter, Jane and anonymous for further ideas... will share the location tomorrow, but a few of you are on the right track, and I'm impressed by your analytical skills...
Alan Parkinson said…
Either that or you used Tineye.com - reverse image search... :)
Alan Parkinson said…
Thanks for all the comments so far - I'll post the answer later...
petergknight said…
come on... the suspense is killing...
Alan Parkinson said…
And the answer is here:
http://livinggeography.blogspot.com/2011/11/answer-to-mystery-photo.html