The Galápagos were declared Nationa

The Galápagos were declared National Park in 1959, protecting 97.5% of the land area of the archipelago. The remaining area is occupied by human settlements that already existed at the time of the declaration. By then, about 1000-2000 people lived in four islands. In 1972, a census found that 3488 people lived in Galápagos, but in 1980 this number had dramatically increased to more than 20,000.