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The Insular region is made up of a single province called Galapagos. The Galapagos Islands are considered the fourth geographical region of Ecuador.
In 1535 Fray Tomas de Berlanga accidentally discovered the islands, his ship had been static due to the lack of winds, and the current of Panama pushed it to the south, to these islands that apparently did not offer any charm and called them “The enchanted” by the mystery they presented to appear and disappear in the fog of the Pacific Ocean, and this gave the feeling that it was the land and not the ship that moved. On these islands, countless stories are told of pirates who came to hide, repair their boats, stock up on fresh meat and take thousands of turtles. Whalers also arrived and were the first human group to cause destruction on the islands, as they introduced domestic animals and also killed and took thousands of giant tortoises. And of course, there is no lack of love and mystery with the Baroness of Galapagos.
The Galapagos Islands have been considered one of the most active volcanic zones in the world, all the islands are of volcanic origin and at least 8 of them have shown intense volcanic activity during the historical period, it is thought that the first island was formed more than 5 million years ago, as a result of tectonic activity. The most recent islands are Isabela and Fernandina and are still in the process of formation. In addition to the mainland of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are also crossed by the equatorial line, which passes through the northern part of Isabela Island. The archipelago is made up of 13 large islands, 6 smaller islands and 107 islets.
The Galapagos Islands are famous for their unique flora and fauna, as well as for their beautiful landscapes and for their virgin territory, sparsely populated and visited by tourists in a limited way in order to protect and preserve their spectacular nature. The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific, almost a thousand kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, the country to which they belong politically.
These islands became known worldwide due to Charles Darwin’s 1835 studies on the theory of the evolution of species by natural selection, a document published in 1859.
In 1978, the Galapagos Islands were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The dry season in the Galapagos Islands, which runs from late August to mid-November, brings with it marine mammals, huge schools of sharks and varieties of fish that arrive attracted by the abundance of food, plankton.
