[freejohn]

Nice shot .. What is that bright orange-ish spot on the earth’s surface?

It’s almost right below the fan like structure (aerial?) of the space station.

[ETL]

It’s city lights of some largely populated area. There’s another somewhat dimmer smudge of orange/yellow light to the right of the one you pointed out. It’s hard to tell but one or the other could be Japan or South Korea.

[ETL]

"South Korea is bright, North Korea is dark. This amazing image is included in the
standard US Department of Defense briefings on North Korea. It was mentioned
in a news briefing on 23 December 2002 by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who
stated that "If you look at a picture from the sky of the Korean Peninsula at night,
South Korea is filled with lights and energy and vitality and a booming economy;
North Korea is dark."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/dprk-dark.htm