A lengthy struggle between France and Great Britain for the islands ended in 1814, when they were ceded to the latter. Independence came in 1976. Socialist rule was brought to a close with a new constitution and free elections in 1993. President France-Albert RENE, who had served since 1977, was re-elected in 2001, but stepped down in 2004. Vice President James MICHEL took over the presidency and in July 2006 was elected to a new five-year term.

archipelago in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar
4 35 S, 55 40 E
Africa
total: 455 sq km ; land: 455 sq km ; water: 0 sq km
2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
0 km
491 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; contiguous zone: 24 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ; continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
tropical marine; humid; cooler season during southeast monsoon (late May to September); warmer season during northwest monsoon (March to May)
Mahe Group is granitic, narrow coastal strip, rocky, hilly; others are coral, flat, elevated reefs
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m ; highest point: Morne Seychellois 905 m
fish, copra, cinnamon trees
arable land: 2.17% ; permanent crops: 13.04% ; other: 84.79% (2005)
NA


lies outside the cyclone belt, so severe storms are rare; short droughts possible
water supply depends on catchments to collect rainwater
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
41 granitic and about 75 coralline islands
81,895 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 25.4% (male 10,504/female 10,272) ; 15-64 years: 68.5% (male 27,405/female 28,706) ; 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 1,590/female 3,418) (2007 est.)
total: 28.4 years ; male: 27.3 years ; female: 29.4 years (2007 est.)
0.432% (2007 est.)
15.83 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
6.25 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-5.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.023 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.955 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.465 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.932 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 14.75 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 18.67 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 10.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 72.34 years ; male: 66.98 years ; female: 77.86 years (2007 est.)
1.74 children born/woman (2007 est.)
NA
NA
NA
noun: Seychellois (singular and plural) ; adjective: Seychellois
mixed French, African, Indian, Chinese, and Arab
Roman Catholic 82.3%, Anglican 6.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.1%, other Christian 3.4%, Hindu 2.1%, Muslim 1.1%, other non-Christian 1.5%, unspecified 1.5%, none 0.6% (2002 census)
Creole 91.8%, English 4.9% (official), other 3.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2002 census)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 91.8% ; male: 91.4% ; female: 92.3% (2002 census)


conventional long form: Republic of Seychelles ; conventional short form: Seychelles ; local long form: Republic of Seychelles ; local short form: Seychelles
republic
name: Victoria ; geographic coordinates: 4 38 S, 55 27 E ; time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
23 administrative districts; Anse aux Pins, Anse Boileau, Anse Etoile, Anse Louis, Anse Royale, Baie Lazare, Baie Sainte Anne, Beau Vallon, Bel Air, Bel Ombre, Cascade, Glacis, Grand' Anse (on Mahe), Grand' Anse (on Praslin), La Digue, La Riviere Anglaise, Mont Buxton, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance, Pointe La Rue, Port Glaud, Saint Louis, Takamaka

29 June 1976 (from UK)
Constitution Day (National Day), 18 June (1993)
18 June 1993
based on English common law, French civil law, and customary law
17 years of age; universal
chief of state: President James Alix MICHEL (since 14 April 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government ; head of government: President James MICHEL (since 14 April 2004) ; cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president ; elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for two more terms); election last held 28-30 July 2006 (next to be held in 2011) ; election results: President James MICHEL elected president; percent of vote - James MICHEL 53.73%, Wavel RAMKALAWAN 45.71%, Philippe BOULLE 0.56%; note - this was the first election in which President James MICHEL participated; he was originally sworn in as president after former president France Albert RENE stepped down in April 2004
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (34 seats; 25 members elected by popular vote, 9 allocated on a proportional basis to parties winning at least 10% of the vote; to serve five-year terms) ; elections: last held 10-12 May 2007 (next to be held in 2012) ; election results: percent of vote by party - SPPF 56.2%, SNP 43.8%; seats by party - SPPF 23, SNP 11
Court of Appeal; Supreme Court; judges for both courts are appointed by the president
Democratic Party or DP [James MANCHAM, Paul CHOW]; Seychelles National Party or SNP [Wavel RAMKALAWAN] (formerly the United Opposition or UO); Seychelles People's Progressive Front or SPPF [France Albert RENE, James MICHEL] (the governing party)
Roman Catholic Church; trade unions
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
five oblique bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, red, white, and green (bottom) radiating from the bottom of the hoist side
chief of mission: Ambassador Jean Ronald JUMEAU ; chancery: 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400C, New York, NY 10017 ; telephone: [1] (212) 972-1785 ; FAX: [1] (212) 972-1786
the US does not have an embassy in Seychelles; the ambassador to Mauritius is accredited to Seychelles





Since independence in 1976, per capita output in this Indian Ocean archipelago has expanded to roughly seven times the old, near-subsistence level, moving the island into the upper-middle income group of countries. Growth has been led by the tourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labor force and provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings, and by tuna fishing. In recent years, the government has encouraged foreign investment to upgrade hotels and other services. At the same time, the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing, and small-scale manufacturing. Sharp drops illustrated the vulnerability of the tourist sector in 1991-92 due largely to the Gulf War and once again following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. Economic growth slowed in 1998-2002 and fell in 2003-04, due to sluggish tourist and tuna sectors, but resumed in 2005-07. The Seychelles rupee was allowed to depreciate in 2006 after being overvalued for years and fell by 10% in the first 9 months of 2007.
$1.655 billion (2007 est.)
$599 million (2007 est.)
5.8% (2007 est.)
$18,400 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 2.4% ; industry: 25.6% ; services: 72% (2007 est.)
30,900 (1996)
agriculture: 10% ; industry: 19% ; services: 71% (1989)
NA%
NA%
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%

2.9% (2007 est.)
13.2% of GDP (2007 est.)
revenues: $380.9 million ; expenditures: $361.2 million (2007 est.)
143.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla, sweet potatoes, cassava (tapioca), bananas; poultry; tuna
fishing, tourism, processing of coconuts and vanilla, coir (coconut fiber) rope, boat building, printing, furniture; beverages
1% (2007 est.)
208 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 100% ; hydro: 0% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
193.4 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
6,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
0 bbl/day (2004)
5,800 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
-$141 million (2007 est.)
$434 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
canned tuna, frozen fish, cinnamon bark, copra, petroleum products (reexports)
UK 25.5%, France 17.5%, Italy 11.9%, Mauritius 8.5%, Japan 8.3%, Spain 8.1%, Netherlands 4.3% (2006)
$721 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Saudi Arabia 17.7%, South Africa 9.7%, Spain 8.1%, France 7.6%, Singapore 7.2%, Italy 4.8%, UK 4% (2006)

$118 million (31 December 2007 est.)
$957 million (31 December 2007 est.)


$NA
Seychelles rupee (SCR)
SCR
Seychelles rupees per US dollar - 6.5 (2007), 5.5 (2006), 5.5 (2005), 5.5 (2004), 5.4007 (2003)
calendar year
$18.81 million (2005)
20,700 (2006)
70,300 (2006)
general assessment: effective system ; domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 110 telephones per 100 persons; radiotelephone communications between islands in the archipelago ; international: country code - 248; direct radiotelephone communications with adjacent island countries and African coastal countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2001)
42,000 (1997)
2 (plus 9 repeaters) (1997)
11,000 (1997)
.sc
187 (2007)
1 (2000)
29,000 (2006)

15 (2007)
total: 9 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 6 ; under 914 m: 2 (2007)
total: 6 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 2 ; under 914 m: 4 (2007)



total: 458 km ; paved: 440 km ; unpaved: 18 km (2003)

total: 6 ships (1000 GRT or over) 108,348 GRT/165,593 DWT ; by type: cargo 1, carrier 1, chemical tanker 4 ; foreign-owned: 3 (Hong Kong 1, Nigeria 1, South Africa 1) (2007)
Victoria

Seychelles Defense Force: Army, Coast Guard (includes Naval Wing, Air Wing), National Guard (2005)
18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)
males age 18-49: 21,612 ; females age 18-49: 22,459 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 16,122 ; females age 18-49: 18,777 (2005 est.)

2% (2006 est.)

together with Mauritius, Seychelles claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory)



