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Photo: European Space Agency · Attribution · Wikimedia Commons
Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, part of Ecuador since 1832
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, 485 nautical miles west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of slightly over 33,000 in 2020. The province is divided into the cantons of San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, and Isabela, the three most populated islands in the chain. The Galápagos are famous for their large number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin in the 1830s and inspired his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. All of these islands are protected as part of Ecuador's Galápagos National Park and Marine Reserve.
