San Salvador Island
island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Visit Santiago Island, in the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin spent weeks experimenting, observing, and collecting specimens of the unique Galapagos wildlifeSee all videos for this article
San Salvador Island, also called James Island, one of the Galapagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean about 600 miles (965 km) west of mainland Ecuador. Its relief is dominated by two volcanoes, the larger rising to 1,700 feet (520 m), that form the mass of the island’s area of 203 square miles (526 square km).
Originally named for England’s King James II, who was previously the duke of York, the island was also formerly called York and Santiago. It served as a food cache for pirates and during the 19th century was visited by both Charles Darwin and the American novelist Herman Melville. It is noted for its flamingo colony. The island is populated by humans only on a temporary basis.
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