History 

Tomas de Berlanga,

  There is not a lot known about the first inhabitants of the Galapagos.  It is thought that the first visitors were the Chimu people and the Incas from the mainland of South America in the 15th century.  The first recorded arrival, however, was on 10 March 1535 when Tomas de Berlanga, a Spanish Bishop, travelled from Panama to Peru and landed by accident on the islands.  The report he gave to King Charles V is the first description we have of the fearless animals of the islands. Neither the Spanish conquistadors, nor the Dutch, nor the English were interested in this newly discovered area due to the lack of natural resources.

First map

The first map of the Galapagos Islands was made in 1685 by Ambrose Cowely, who also named the individual islands.  Despite this map, however, sailors still had difficulty locating the islands due to strong currents.  The islands became known as Las Encantadas because sailors were convinced that the islands changed position. William Dampier and Woodes Rogers made the archipelago better known to other European seamen who ventured into the Pacific in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Whaling and seal-hunting

Whaling was a big business in the first half of the 19th century. The demand for oil, especially in British industry, meant that whalers had no regard for the preservation of the natural life of the Galapagos, and the constant hunting decimated the whale population. The fascination with giant tortoises, seen for the first time by many people, meant that almost 200,000 giant tortoises left the islands on the many ships that began to frequent the Galapagos.

Ecuadorian sovereignty

In 1832, Ecuador proclaimed sovereignty over the Galapagos Islands. At this time there lived only a small amount of people. The Ecuadorians tried to establish some form of industry on the islands, but failed, due to a lack of organisation, sugar and orchilla growing.  Fishing and farming became a way to survive on the 4 larger islands, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, Isabela and Floreana.
 
America and the Galapagos,

The Galapagos Islands gained international importance for the US and Latin America after the construction of the Panama Canal.  In World War II, it became necessary to protect the entrance to the Panama Canal and, strategically, the Galapagos was the best place to have a military base. Ecuador therefore permitted the States to build an airfield on the island of Baltra. After the war the base became Ecuadorian again and is now the main point of entry to the National Park.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin arrived in 1835. It was here that he began his evolutionary research which led to the publication of his controversial novel,  The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. He spent 5 weeks on the islands collecting and documenting species for his studies but it wasn’t until 1859 that the book was published.
Galápagos affair.

In the 1930's several mysterious deaths and disappearances among the European community on the island of Floreana put Galapagos in the news.  A book by John Treherne about these events, helped make the Galagapagos famous and a popular tourist destination. 
This increase in tourism is the main reason for the immigration to the islands that in the last 20 years has increased the population on the Galapagos at such a high rate. This slowed when the Ecuadorian government passed a Special Law limiting immigration to the islands.

Galapagos National Park

In 1959, Ecuador made 97% of the land area of Galapagos a National Park.  They also introduced the Galapagos Marine Resources Reserve in 1986 to protect the waters around the island. The islands were also internationally recognised as a Man and Biosphere Reserve and as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in December 2001.

Charles Darwin Foundation

The Charles Darwin Foundation was set up by the Government of Ecuador 40 years ago to provide a solution to the problem of species that were introduced by settlers and which subsequently caused harm to the islands' fragile ecosystem. The management of the Galapagos National Park and the park and the Research Station have collaborated closely over the years.