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History
Home » Ecuador » Galapagos Islands Overview and History » HistoryGalapagos had no indigenous people and was only officially discovered in 1535 by Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, when his ship was becalmed and carried there by currents.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, buccaneers and pirates used the islands as a staging post, stocking up on water and giant tortoises which they stowed alive on board their ships for fresh meat, before carrying out raids on the South American coast.
During the 19th century whalers and fur sealers further exploited the islands. Galapagos was annexed by Ecuador in 1832 and small colonies were gradually established on several of the islands. In the 1930's several mysterious deaths and disappearances among the European community on the island of Floreana put Galapagos in the news.
Most of the present-day inhabitants moved to the islands from the Ecuadorian mainland during the last 20 years – until the Special Law for Galapagos was passed the population was increasing at more than 8% per annum.
Sources
http://www.galapagos.com
http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/AboutGalapagos.html
http://www.gct.org/intro.html
http://www.galapaguide.com
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