Galapagos Islands - geography and location

The Archipelago of Colon, known worldwide as the Galapagos Islands are located in South America. 600 miles of the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean.

The Galapagos Islands lie across the equator at the 90th meridian west. The nearest land is Guayaquil in Ecuador, over 960 kilometers to the east.

The total land area of the islands is about 8000 square kilometers, spread over 45,000 square kilometers of sea. The archipelago is 450 kilometers long from Darwin Island, in the northwest, to Espanola Island in the southeast.

The Galapagos Islands were once called Las Islands Encantadas (Bewitched Islands). The Galapagos archipelagos is composed of five major islands -- Isabella, Fernandina, San Cristobal, San Salvador, and Santa Cruz. There are also eight other large islands and over forty islets and smaller rocks with official names.

The islands are all of animals is the contrast between the stark white beaches, the steel-grey ocean of the outer edges of the islands, the blue-green ocean of the sheltered areas of the islands, the rough grey-black lava rocks, and the peaceful forests