Located in the Pacific Ocean about 620 miles (1,000 km) off the western South American coast, the Galapagos Islands became famous after Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species, describing a theory of evolution, in 1859.
His ideas were based in part on the unique animal species he observed on these isolated islands several years earlier.
The Galapagos consist of 13 large volcanic islands and 6 smaller ones.
They are home to many unusual animals, including birds, turtles, iguanas, and penguins.
Only about 15,000 people live there permanently, but about 60,000 people visit the islands each year from all over the world.
