Residents of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island gather for a 2013 Christmas celebration, complete with the Grinch.
Yes—the Galapagos Islands, part of the South American country of Ecuador, have about 25,000 permanent residents, 1,800 temporaries and 5,000 “irregulars,” according to the Galapagos Conservancy.
The population has exploded in recent decades: In the early ’70s, only roughly 4,000 people lived there.
The growth — of both residents and tourists — has brought the obvious ecological problems that negatively impact the islands’ many natural gems.
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