For centuries, the world's largest island was considered a nature reserve with extremely limited economic opportunities. The coastal regions of the 2,175 square kilometer island, which are inhabited by about 60,000 people, used to live predominantly on fishing and fish processing.

Only now are people beginning to realize what natural treasure the island harbors: Fresh water reserves trapped in 1,500 meter glaciers that cover about two million square kilometers of the island.
But that's not all: Virtually inexhaustible supplies of spring water that are extremely pure and completely unsullied by civilization remain unused and are currently flowing to the sea in rushing streams.