Seychelles

Where is Seychelles?

Located in the Indian Ocean, Seychelles is an island nation. It has a 491.00 km coastline. Both Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Islands.

The capital city of Seychelles is Victoria, located on the northeastern side of Mahe island which is the largest island in the country. The area of Victoria was originally settled in 1778 by French colonists but it was not until 1814 that the city was named Victoria. This renaming was due to the United Kingdom taking control of the islands after the Treaty of Paris was signed. The climate of Victoria is considered a tropical rainforest environment with consistently high temperatures. The city does not have a true dry season and although temperatures are high, so is precipitation. The wettest month of the year is January, averaging 401.3 millimetres (15.79 inches) of rain and the country sees 2,349 millimetres (92.5 inches) of rainfall per year. Although Victoria is rainy, the sky is usually clear and cloud rarely covers the entire city. The population of Victoria was last measured in 2010 and was found to be 26,450 citizens. Approximately one-third of the population of the country resides in Victoria and the city has remained the nation's major commercial hub for over 200 years. The majority of the population speak Seychellois Creole as well as either French or English.

Seychelles is an African country covering 455.00 km². This makes it the 15th smallest country in the world and about 6 times smaller than Rhode Island. Its geographic coordinates are 4 35 S, 55 40 E and Victoria is the capital city.

The name Seychelles comes from the French Captain Corneille Nicholas Morphey.

Its ISO code is SC.

Geography

Seychelles has a mean elevation of 0 m above sea level.

It has a tropical climate with a summer rainy season from May to December and a winter dry season from December to April. Its terrain is volcanic with a narrow coastal strip and a rocky interior.

Population

Seychelles has a population of 93,186 making it the 197th largest in the world.

Seychellois Creole is the official and most widely spoken language; English and French are also official. The ethnic groups are reported as a mixture of French, African, Indian, Chinese, and Arab. The majority of the population identifies as Roman Catholic.

The official languages of Seychelles are French, English, and Seychellois Creole.The French language was introduced to the country prior to the British taking control of it in 1794 and due to the similarities with Seychellois Creole, French remains a prevalent means of communication. English was brought to Seychelles with the colonization of the islands by the United Kingdom who ruled the area for almost two centuries. Seychellois Creole is a language that derived from French Creole and now incorporates several English words and phrases. In 2016, the population of Seychelles was estimated at 94, 677 and of these citizens, approximately 87% speak Seychellois Creole as a native language. 51% of the country speaks French as a first or second language and 38% speak English which is usually a second or third language of many in the country. The majority of government dealings and business in Seychelles are conducted in English and 98% of children are literate in Seychellois Creole, French, and/or English. Aside from European and African languages, Seychelles is home to small communities of South Indians and Asians who speak their native tongues. Dravidian languages such as Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu are common among immigrants from India living in the country. There is a small number of Tamil immigrants (from India and Sri Lanka) living in Seychelles who speak the Tamil language. Seychelles is also home to a small population of Chinese citizens.

The dialing code for the country is 248.

Government

Seychelles is an independent country. It gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1976. Its constitution was last ratified in 1993.

The political system of Seychelles is classified as a presidential republic in which the president is the head of government and state within a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government and legislative power is vested in the ruling government and the National Assembly. The independence movement of the 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of the Seychelles People's United Party which ruled the country for 30 years (1977-2007). After independence from the United Kingdom, Seychelles was a one-party state for 16 years until the 1993 elections. The President of Seychelles is Danny Faure who has held office since 16 October 2016. Faure is the fourth president in the history of the country and served as the Vice President of Seychelles from 2010-2016. He holds a degree in political science and has worked in various sectors of the government since 1985, shortly after graduating. Elections for both the legislature and presidency are contested every five years, this is based on constitutional reforms of the 1990s. The Constitution of Seychelles was amended in late 1991 in order to return to a multi-party system which saw the first national legislative and presidential elections of this kind take place in 1993.

Economy

Factoring in Purchasing Power Parity, Seychelles's GDP is $2,608,000,000.00 (USD) with $28,000.00 (USD) per capita. This makes it the 188th largest economy and its citizens the 64th richest in the world. The currency of Seychelles is the Rupee (SCR).

Its major export partners are France, the United Kingdom, and Mauritius. Its main exports are canned tuna, frozen fish, and petroleum products. Its major import partners are Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Singapore. Its major imports include machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, and petroleum products.

Flag

The flag of Seychelles consists of five oblique stripes, meaning their sides are neither parallel or at a right angle, of green, white, red, yellow, and blue. All five of the stripes begin in the bottom left-hand corner and get wider towards the right-hand side, this is known as radiating in flag terminology. This flag was officially adopted on 18 June 1996 and is the third used in Seychelles since independence was gained from the United Kingdom on 29 June 1976. The shape of the bands in this flag are symbolic of a country moving into the future and the colors also have important meaning. Blue is representative of the sea and sky, yellow is a symbol of the sun, green depicts the natural environment of the country, the white is used to represent social harmony and fairness, and red depicts the people of the nation and their spirit. The colors used in the flag of Seychelles are also the colors of the two major political parties of the country. The flag used from 1977-1996 consists of two horizontal bands of red and green with a white wavy stripe separating the stripes. The flag used from June 1976 until June 1977 consists of a white diagonal cross that divides four colored triangles.