GENERAL INFORMATION

• Area: 1’714.000 acres (693.700 ha)
• Date of Creation: March 14, 1936
• Altitude: 0 — 5.600 ft (0 — 1.707 m)

The Galapagos Islands are the most famous tourist attraction, botanical and animal reserve, and geological formation of Ecuador. Not only is it the first established national park of Ecuador, but the United Nations declared it a Natural Patrimony of Humanity in 1979 and a Reserve of the Biosphere in 1985, and the area of ocean around it is a Marine Reserve since 1986. It is agreed that the islands never had a connection with the mainland. Most scientists today accept the theory of long distance dispersal as being responsible for bringing life to the Galapagos Islands. They include: 1) wind and air currents; 2) oceanic drift, either by swimming, floating or carried on natural rafts of vegetation; and 3) dispersal by means of birds. How these animals adapted to the islands was the question Darwin tried to answer with his theory of evolution.

The Galapagos archipelago consists of thirteen major Islands, six minor islands and some 40 smaller rock formations and reefs spread out over 17,000 square miles of ocean. This cluster of islands located on the equator is situated 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. From the time they first broke through the ocean floor, some 7-9 million years ago, the Galapagos have remained a very active site of volcanic activity.
The eastern islands (the oldest is Española) seem to be significantly older than those on the west, with the rocks on Isabela and Fernandina Islands being less than one million years old which is consistent with the "hot spot" theory of Galapagos Island formation. Today, the Galapagos are among the most active volcanic sites in the world. There have been seven eruptions in the last 15 years, some quite recently.