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INTRODUCTION
The Republic of Seychelles (say-SHELLS or say-SHELL) (Creole: Repiblik Sesel) is a nation of islands in the Indian Ocean, some 1,600 km east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. Other nearby island countries and territories include Mauritius and Réunion to the south, Comoros and Mayotte to the southwest, and the Maldives to the northeast.
Geography
The Seychelles constitute an archipelago in the Indian Ocean of about 115 islands, of which 33 are inhabited. The group of islands around Mahé consist of granite and are the largest and most populated of the country. The remaining outer group consists of smaller coralline atolls. The capital city, Victoria, is situated on Mahé, which is the largest island and home to about 80% of the total population, as well as the Seychelles' highest point, the Morne Seychellois at 905 m.
The local climate is tropical, tempered by marine influences and fairly humid. The southeast monsoon is a generally cooler season which lasts from late May to September, while the warmer northwest monsoon lasts from March to May. The Seychelles are fortunate to lie outside the tropical cyclone belt.
Seychelles largely escaped the Asian Tsunami of December 2004 spawned by an earthquake. However, the islands did see significant flooding and damage - as well as large loss of marine life and deathtoll of three persons.
History
While Arab traders were probably the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles, the first recorded sighting of them took place in 1505, by the Portuguese. As a transit point for trading between Africa and Asia, they were occasionally used by pirates until the French began to take control of the islands starting in 1756, naming them after Jean Moreau de Sechelles, the then French finance minister.
The British contested control over the islands with the French between 1794 and 1811, with the British eventually gaining the upper hand and being ceded the islands in 1814. The Seychelles became a crown colony separate from Mauritius in 1903 and independence was granted in 1976, as a republic within the Commonwealth. The 1979 constitution declared a socialist one-party state, which lasted until 1992.
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