Mallorca, Spain

View Original Snapshot

Majorca or Mallorca (Spanish: Mallorca [maˈʎorka])^[1] is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, in Spain.

The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca (in the municipality of Palma). The anthem of Majorca is La Balanguera.

Like the other Balearic Islands of Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, the island is an extremely popular holiday destination, particularly for tourists from Germany, Ireland, Poland, the Scandinavian countries, and the United Kingdom. The name derives from Latin insula maior, “larger island”; later Maiorica, “the larger one” in comparison to Minorca, “the smaller one”.

Source: Wikipedia

Svalbard, Norway

View Original Snapshot

I had never even heard of Svalbard when I noticed that Google Street View had gone beyond the ends of the earth to catalog it. This photo is of Longyearbyen, the town which serves as the island’s administrative center. It is by far the world’s northernmost town. (For reference, the state of Alaska tops out at 72 degrees north latitude. Longyearbyen sits comfortably at 78.)

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative center of Svalbard, Norway. As of 2008, the town had a population of 2,040. Longyearbyen is located in the valley of Longyeardalen and on the shore of Adventfjorden, a bay of Isfjorden located on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Since 2002, Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. The town is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. It is the world’s northernmost town, and the northernmost settlement of any kind with greater than 1,000 permanent residents.

Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after John Munroe Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal mining operations in 1906. Operations were taken over by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) in 1916, which still conducts mining. The town was almost completely destroyed by the German Kriegsmarine on 8 August 1943, but was rebuilt after the Second World War. Traditionally, Longyearbyen was a company town, but most mining operations have moved to Sveagruva since the 1990s, while the town has seen a large increase in tourism and research. This has seen the arrival of institutions such as the University Centre in Svalbard, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and Svalbard Satellite Station. The community is served by Svalbard Airport, Longyear and Svalbard Church.

Source: Wikipedia

Povoacao, Azores

 View Original Snapshot

From Wikipedia:

The Archipelago of the Azores (UK /əˈzɔrz/ ə-zorz, US /ˈeɪzɔrz/ ay-zorz; Portuguese: Açores, IPA: [ɐˈsoɾɨʃ]) is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about 1,500 km (930 mi) west of Lisbon and about 1,900 km (1,200 mi) southeast of Newfoundland. The islands, and their Exclusive Economic Zone, form the Autonomous Region of the Azores, one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming (for cheese and butter products primarily), livestock ranching, fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service activity in the region. In addition to this, the government of the Azores employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in many aspects of the service and tertiary sectors.

There are nine major Azorean islands and an islet cluster, in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo, to the west;Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre; and São Miguel, Santa Maria, and the Formigas Reef to the east. They extend for more than 600 km (370 mi) and lie in a northwest-southeast direction.

The vast extent of the islands defines an immense exclusive economic zone of 1,100,000 km² (420,000 sq mi). The westernmost point of this area is 3,380 km (2,100 mi) from the North American continent. All the islands have volcanic origins, although some, such as Santa Maria, have had no recorded activity since the islands were settled. Mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point in Portugal, at 2,351 m (7,713 ft). The Azores are actually some of the tallest mountains on the planet, measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic.

Because these once-uninhabited and remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of two centuries, their culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions vary considerably.