SAN CRISTBAL ISLAND

Spanish Isla San Cristbal, also called Chatham Island one of the easternmost of the Galpagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. San Cristbal Island lies approximately 600 miles (965 km) west of Ecuador. It was originally named by English pirates for William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. With an area of 195 square miles (505 square km), San Cristbal is the most populated and fertile island of the archipelago. Volcanic in origin, with its highest point 2,940 feet (896 m), San Cristbal is the only island of the Galpagos group that has a regular water supply (from rainwater that gathers in broken craters). The settlements of San Cristbal (the nominal capital of the Galpagos) and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno are located on Baha de Naufragio (Wreck Bay). Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, landed at San Cristbal in 1835 and compiled data that he later incorporated into his Origin of Species. A monument to Darwin was erected in 1935. Formerly a penal colony, Puerto Baquerizo is now an Ecuadoran military base and the export centre for the island's products, including sugar, coffee, cassava, cattle, fish, and lime. Pop. (1980 est.) 2,781.