Wacky locations for a Colony

A colony on the Sinai would be interesting. If it includes some oil fields and the Suez Canal it could generate quite some money. Press the western defenses against the Suez Canal, the eastern defenses could go out as far as the Hejaz mountains. Probably doomed long term though. Its strategic position may end up attracting attacks from the world's powers.
 
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Tierra del Fuego and nearby areas (like Punta Arenas) seems like it could have some potential. I could totally see a British "Colony of Fireland" or a French "Terre de Feu", although as IOTL, a lot of the importance will go away if someone builds a canal in Central America.
 
All interesting ideas.

Siberia was colonized OTL and at the time it was a pretty wacky place to set up. How many people could Siberia support if we pack it to carrying capacity (just counting areas east of the Urals)? How does the population distribute?
 
The Kerguelen Islands could be a pretty interesting place to colonise. It has coal and offshore oil, useful vitamin C containing plants (Kerguelen cabbage) for early sailors, potential to naturalise other plants of value (Drimys winteri, used for furniture, musical instruments, and other fine woodworking, plus potentially a spice), and endless amounts of wind power. It makes a great base for Antarctic exploration/exploitation (early on it would be a good station for lost sailors), as well as a good waystation between South Africa and Perth. It could be another Iceland, and like Iceland's hydroelectric and geothermal power, Kerguelen has a huge potential for renewable energy as well, especially wind power. If I ruled both the Cape and Western Australia, I'd strongly consider putting at least an outpost on Kerguelen, if only for helping castaways/damaged ships and maybe for Kerguelen cabbage (maybe a dish containing it makes its way to the stomach of some prominent individuals).

Controlling Cape Horn (Tierra del Fuego), the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), and Cape Leeuwin (Western Australia) could provide interesting advantages (near complete control of the Clipper Route and the Southern Ocean in general), and Kerguelen is one of the places you'd need to control to get there.

All interesting ideas.

Siberia was colonized OTL and at the time it was a pretty wacky place to set up. How many people could Siberia support if we pack it to carrying capacity (just counting areas east of the Urals)? How does the population distribute?

Siberia wasn't any less reasonable than settling the American West. Given that it was rich in furs, the Urals with their noteworthy mines since early on (before mining was extended everywhere), and later being Russia's route to China and the Pacific, it made plenty of sense. Plus remember that Siberia has a ton of farmland along the southern borders of Russia.

The problems with settling Siberia was the Russian system of serfdom and its increasing restrictions over the years, and also the fact that it was pretty damn far compared to Novorossiya and the Kuban. Travelling the river routes is much more difficult than the comparatively easier journey to the southern steppes. Also, in either case, it had to wait until the Russian state could project power into that region against the Turkic peoples (Crimean Khanate, Kazakhs, etc.). But in theory, a "settled" Siberia (maybe with a Volga Bulgaria/Tatar wank) could probably have twice as many people as today. Not entirely sure on that, but with modern agriculture, robust transportation, and early development the region could host a lot more people. Individual parts could probably have a lot more, like a Japanese-colonised (from the 16th century at latest) Kamchatka/northern Sea of Okhotsk areas, or even China pushing north into parts of Siberia.
 
What if we set the POD so far back that the nations around Siberia no longer resemble what we know OTL? If we don't consider how the people get there, but just the maximum amount of people the land could support how many people could Siberia support and where would they be with a 2000's tech level?

Consider that the area is unified under a local government (it's a former colony which has gained independence), runs a Quiverfull like movement and can sell their resources for money to buy more food. Assume that the nation is one the most advanced (weird stuff is happening ITTL) and assume that they can build a transportation network linking their territory together.
 
Couple of hundred million perhaps with 2000's tech and trading resources for food?

How about a colony in the islands in North Canada? With the melting of the North West passage it could become an important trading route.
 
How about a colony in the islands in North Canada? With the melting of the North West passage it could become an important trading route.

The Northwest Passage doesn't actually have a lot of advantages to major shipping routes, given the Northeast Passage exists and is in many cases the better route or only slightly longer, and Russia has much more port infrastructure in the Arctic than Canada does. And there's no way the developed nations of the world would let Suez or Panama become impassible due to instability, they'd occupy it in a heartbeat to prevent hazards to world shipping.
 

Teejay

Gone Fishin'
The Kerguelen Islands could be a pretty interesting place to colonise. It has coal and offshore oil, useful vitamin C containing plants (Kerguelen cabbage) for early sailors, potential to naturalise other plants of value (Drimys winteri, used for furniture, musical instruments, and other fine woodworking, plus potentially a spice), and endless amounts of wind power. It makes a great base for Antarctic exploration/exploitation (early on it would be a good station for lost sailors), as well as a good waystation between South Africa and Perth. It could be another Iceland, and like Iceland's hydroelectric and geothermal power, Kerguelen has a huge potential for renewable energy as well, especially wind power. If I ruled both the Cape and Western Australia, I'd strongly consider putting at least an outpost on Kerguelen, if only for helping castaways/damaged ships and maybe for Kerguelen cabbage (maybe a dish containing it makes its way to the stomach of some prominent individuals).


Kerguelen is too cold for trees, even the warmest areas in the middle of summer only average 8C, a little bit colder than Southern Tierra Del Fuego. Even if Kerguelen was the size of Iceland, it would only have the population of Iceland at most. Although the temperatures in summer in places not exposed to the prevalent westerly winds would only be about 10C just warm enough to grow trees. Kerguelen being 10 degrees further North would be a major game changer, since the climate would become similar to Britain or Ireland (although with slightly milder winters) and forests of broadleaf evergreen trees, along with conifers related to those in Southern Africa.
 
Kerguelen is too cold for trees, even the warmest areas in the middle of summer only average 8C, a little bit colder than Southern Tierra Del Fuego. Even if Kerguelen was the size of Iceland, it would only have the population of Iceland at most. Although the temperatures in summer in places not exposed to the prevalent westerly winds would only be about 10C just warm enough to grow trees. Kerguelen being 10 degrees further North would be a major game changer, since the climate would become similar to Britain or Ireland (although with slightly milder winters) and forests of broadleaf evergreen trees, along with conifers related to those in Southern Africa.

Average temperature in Ushuaia in the summer is 9C. The climate data shows that Port-aux-Français is actually more mild in the winter as well, although still below freezing. Both places have the same tendency to have snow/below freezing temperatures in every month. So it's probably likely Fuegian trees would be capable of growing there assuming you had some windbreaks to allow them to grow. Agreed that it wouldn't have a particularly big population.
 

Teejay

Gone Fishin'
Average temperature in Ushuaia in the summer is 9C. The climate data shows that Port-aux-Français is actually more mild in the winter as well, although still below freezing. Both places have the same tendency to have snow/below freezing temperatures in every month. So it's probably likely Fuegian trees would be capable of growing there assuming you had some windbreaks to allow them to grow. Agreed that it wouldn't have a particularly big population.

Also trees such as Siberian Larch, Spruce, Birch, Pine and Poplar could be planted as well, along with some eucalyptus native to the highland regions of Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains of South Eastern Australia. All species are used to cool summers with occurrences of freezing temperatures and even snow.
 
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