The Galapagos Islands straddle the equator 600 miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is comprised of 18 main islands, three smaller islands and over 100 rocky islets and outcroppings, encompassing 3,040 square miles of land mass spread out over 23,000 square miles of ocean. The largest island, Isabela, at over 1,700 square miles (larger than the state of Rhode Island), contains more than half the total landmass of the islands and reaches to over 5,600 feet above sea level at its highest point.
