The Galapagos Islands are part of which country?

The Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador. The archipelago lies in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 kilometres west of Ecuador’s mainland and is administered as Ecuador’s Galápagos Province.

The islands are volcanic and sit astride the equator. Ecuador formally annexed them on 12 February 1832, during the presidency of Juan José Flores. The province’s administrative capital is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, while Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island is its largest population centre.

Galapagos wildlife—including giant tortoises, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and Darwin’s finches—made the islands famous. Charles Darwin visited in 1835 while travelling on HMS Beagle; his observations later helped shape the theory of evolution by natural selection.

A common mix-up is confusing the islands’ location with nearby mainland countries. They are much closer to Ecuador than to Colombia, Peru or Chile, and their political status is Ecuadorian even though they are far offshore. The islands became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.