Travel Galapagos Islands & Ecuador

Geography

Posted September 21st, 2008 by Bob the Sea Lion

The Galápagos are an isolated group of volcanic

islands that lie in the Pacific Ocean

on the equator about 90 degrees west of

Greenwich. The nearest mainland is Ecuador

almost 1100km to the northeast. The

land mass of the archipelago covers 7882

sq km, of which well over half consists of

Isla Isabela, the largest island within the

archipelago and the 12th-largest in the South

Pacific. There are 13 major islands (ranging

in area from 14 sq km to 4588 sq km), six

small islands (1 sq km to 5 sq km) and scores

of islets, of which only some are named. The

islands are spread over roughly 50,000 sq km

of ocean. The highest point in the Galápagos

is Volcán Wolf (1646m), on Isla Isabela.

Most of the islands have two – sometimes

three – names. The earliest charts gave the

islands both Spanish and English names

(many of these refer to pirates or English

noblemen assigned by Ambrose Cowley

who drew up the first navigational charts

of the islands), and the Ecuadorian government

assigned official names in 1892. An

island can thus have a Spanish name, an

English name and an official name. The official

names are used here in most cases.

Tags: Galapagos