Download Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
The Galapagos Islands (also called Islands of the Galapagos and officially Galapagos
Archipelago) are an Ocean Pacific archipelago located at 972 km from Ecuador’s coast. It is
shaped by 13 large islands with a surface of more than 10 km2, 6 medium size islands with a
surface from 1 to 10 km2, and other 215 islets of a small size in addition to rocky headlands of a
few square meters around the Earth’s equatorial line.
The islands were declared Heritage of Humanity in 1978 and in 2001 by the UNESCO. Tourism
is the largest source of income of the archipelago. It receives 200 thousand visitors a year. Also,
ecotourism has been developed in order to preserve the species. The region used to be the
habitat of Lonely George, the last Pinta giant tortoise, extinct on the 24th of June, 2012. The
Islands are also the habitat of species like marine turtles, iguanas, lizards, cormorants,
albatrosses, sea lions and penguins. Just as continental Ecuador, the archipelago is crossed by
the equatorial line, mostly on the Northern part of Isabela Island. Galapagos is the second place
with most volcanic activity in the planet. The most active volcanoes are: Cerro Azul, Sierra
Negra, Marchena and La Cumbre on Fernandina Island, being this last one the most active
volcano in the archipelago and one of the most active ones in the world.
Galapagos is known by its numerous endemic species and by the studies carried out by
Charles Darwin that led him to establish his natural selection theory of evolution. The islands
are called “The Enchanted Islands” in the tourist environment, name acquired in the Sixteen
Century by its great flora and fauna biodiversity, keeping this name for generations.
Administratively, Galapagos is a province of Ecuador, composed of three Cantons that are
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Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
islands at the same time, which are San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabela. On February 12,
1832, during the presidency of Juan José Flores, the Galapagos Islands were incorporated into
Ecuador. They have been a province of this country since February 18, 1973.
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