South AmericaExploring the Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, are a natural wonder located around the equator, 900 km west of South America. With a population of slightly over 33,000, the islands are famous for their large number of endemic species, studied by Charles Darwin in the 1830s, which inspired his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. The Galápagos Province of Ecuador includes the cantons of San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, and Isabela, the three most populated islands in the chain. These islands are protected as part of Ecuador's Galápagos National Park and Marine Reserve.