Location and Size

Cocos Island first appears on a world map in 1542 as the Ysle de Coques. It was discovered in 1526 by the Spanish navigator Johan Cabeças. It is located in the central eastern area of the Pacific Ocean, facing the Gulf of Panama, in an area the Spanish called the South Sea during the exploration and colonization.
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Geology and Morphology

The ridges on Cocos Island are formed by the alignment of submerged volcanoes that developed in a southeast-northeast direction over the Cocos Tectonic Plate. Cocos Island emerged from this mountain range, which is formed by volcanic rocks, mainly of lava and ash; its geological age is between 1.91 and 2.44 million years. Cocos Island is younger than the Galapagos Islands, which have a geological age of between 1.8 and 4.2 million years.
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Oceanography

Cocos Island in influenced by a complex system of ocean currents. From the east it is influenced by the North Ecuatorial Counter Current, which comes from the western and central Pacific and lightly transports warm tropical waters north of the equator on a journey of more than 5,000 km. Periodically, Cocos Island is affected by a phenomena of oceanic and atmospheric interaction known as El Niño.
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Climate

The climate of Cocos Island is determined by the northern and southern migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ZCIT) that causes continual cloudiness over the island, continuous rain during most of the year, and a persistent southeasterly wind. The average rainfall on the island is between five and seven meters a year. During the months of May and June, the rainfall is higher and can get higher than 1,000 mm. a month.
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Hidrology

The hydrological system on the island is simple. It is formed by three main rivers. The first is the Genio River, which flows south into Wafer Bay. The second is the Pittier River, which flows from north to south into Yglesias Bay. The third is the Liève River, which flows from west to east and empties into Chatham Bay.
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