Greenland, writes Gretel Ehrilch, inspires "an irreverent joy at being alive." Its central ice cap--"a glittering inflorescence that rides the island like the world's one light"--gives way to theatrical coastlines and unexpected oases of greenery, making it one of the world's geologic masterpieces.

• TOTAL AREA: 2,166,086 sq km

• LAND AREA: 2,166,086 sq km (410,449 sq km ice-free, 1,755,637 sq km ice-covered)

• WATER AREA: 0 sq km

• POPULATION: 56,361 (July 2006 est.)

• RELIGIONS: Evangelical Lutheran

• LANGUAGES: Greenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy

• CAPITAL CITY: Nuuk

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: Danish krone (DKK)

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC -2