The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator, 965 kilometres (about 600 miles) west of continental Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean (1° S 91° W). The group consists of 13 main islands, 6 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. The islands are located at a geological hot spot, a place where the earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, creating volcanos. The oldest island is thought to have formed between 5 and 10 million years ago. The youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still being formed, with the most recent volcanic eruption in 2005. It is one of the few places in the world without an indigeous population.
The Galápagos archipelago is a province of Ecuador, a country in northwestern South America, and the islands are all part of Ecuador's national park system.
They are famed for their vast number of endemic species and the studies by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle that contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
Source: 
|
Galápagos Islands places
Other areas
Argentina
Brazil
Colombia
Galápagos Islands
Peru
|
Discover Galapagos
A Travel Guide to tours, boats, cruises, yacht charters, natural and human history and conservation issues in the Galapagos Islands by Inti Travel and Tours, Inc.
|
Galapagos Islands guide
Galapagos islands tours, cruises and travel guide. Galapagos island scuba diving tours, hotels, accommodation, yacht charters, Ecuador flight, vacations information, tours, maps, boats info and more. The Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, have captured the hearts and imaginations of people for the past two centuries. The history of the Islands is turbulent and mysterious. The Galapagos islands have been invaded by buccaneers and pirates, mapped by topographers, studied by scientists, biologists, and historians, settled by a modern-day Adam and Eve in the early 20th century, and there's even been a little love triangle or two.
|
|
|
|
|
|
