Seychelles
Seychelles is located in the Indian Ocean about 1,600 kilometers
(1,000 miles) east of Kenya. The nation is an archipelago of 115
tropical islands with two distinct collections of islands, some
comprised of granite and others of coral. The Mahe Group consists of
42 granite islands, all within a 56-kilometer (35-mi.) radius of the
main island of Mahe. These islands are rocky, and most have a narrow
coastal stripe and a central range of hills rising as high as 914
meters (3,000 ft.). Mahe is the largest island and is the site of
Victoria, the capital. The coral islands are flat with elevated
coral reefs at different stages of formation. They have no fresh
water; human life can be sustained on them only with difficulty.
The climate is equable and healthy, although quite humid, as the
islands are small and subject to marine influences. The temperature
varies little throughout the year. Temperatures on Mahe vary from
240C to 29.90C (750F-850F), and rainfall ranges from 288 centimeters
(90 in.) annually at Victoria to 355 centimeters (140 in.) on the
mountain slopes. Precipitation is somewhat less on the other
islands. During the coolest months, July and August, the temperature
drops to as low as 700F. The southeast trade winds blow regularly
from May to November, and this is the most pleasant time of the
year. The hot months are from December to April, with higher
humidity (80). March and April are the hottest months, but the
temperature seldom exceeds 880F. Most of the islands lie outside the
cyclone belt, so high winds are rare.
About 90% of the Seychellois people live on Mahe Island. Most others
live on Praslin and La Digue, with the remaining smaller islands
either sparsely populated or uninhabited.
Most Seychellois are descendants of early French settlers and the
African slaves brought to the Seychelles in the 19th century by the
British, who freed them from slave ships on the East African coast.
Indians and Chinese (1.1% of the population) account for the other
permanent inhabitants. In 2006, about 4,000 expatriates lived and
worked in Seychelles. Of those, about 65 were American.
Seychelles culture is a mixture of French and African (Creole)
influences. Creole is the native language of 94% of the people;
however, English and French are commonly used. English remains the
language of government and commerce.
About 92% of the population over age 15 is literate, and the
literacy rate of school-aged children has risen to well over 98%.
Increases are expected, as nearly all children of primary school age
attend school, and the government encourages adult education. |
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The Seychelles islands remained uninhabited for more than 150 years
after they became known to Western explorers. The islands appeared
on Portuguese charts as early as 1505, although Arabs may have
visited them much earlier. In 1742, the French Governor of
Mauritius, Mahe de Labourdonais, sent an expedition to the islands.
A second expedition in 1756 reasserted formal possession by France
and gave the islands their present name in honor of the French
finance minister under King Louis XV. The new French colony barely
survived its first decade and did not begin to flourish until 1794,
when Queau de Quincy became commandant.
The Seychelles islands were captured and freed several times during
the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, then passed
officially to the British under the 1814 Treaty of Paris.
From the date of its founding by the French until 1903, the
Seychelles colony was regarded as a dependency of Mauritius, which
also passed from the French to British rule in 1814. In 1888, a
separate administrator and executive and administrative councils
were established for the Seychelles archipelago. Nine years later,
the administrator acquired full powers of a British colonial
governor, and on August 31, 1903, Seychelles became a separate
British Crown Colony.
By 1963, political parties had developed in the Seychelles colony.
Elections in 1963 were contested for the first time on party lines.
In 1964 two new parties, the Seychelles Democratic Party (SDP) led
by James Mancham, and the Seychelles People's Unity Party (SPUP) led
by France Albert Rene, replaced existing parties.
In March 1970, colonial and political representatives of Seychelles
met in London for a constitutional convention. Elections in November
1970 brought the resulting constitution into effect. In the November
1970 elections, the SDP won 10 seats, and the SPUP won 5 in the
Legislative Assembly. Under the new constitution, Mancham became the
Chief Minister of the colony.
Further elections were held in April 1974, in which both major
political parties campaigned for independence. During the April 1974
elections, the SDP increased its majority in the Legislative
Assembly by 3 seats, gaining all but 2 of the 15 seats. Demarcation
of constituencies was such that the SDP achieved this majority by
winning only 52% of the popular vote.
Following the 1974 election, negotiations with the British resulted
in an agreement by which Seychelles became a sovereign republic on
June 29, 1976. The SDP and SPUP formed a coalition government in
June 1975 to lead Seychelles to independence. The British Government
was asked to appoint an electoral review commission so that
divergent views on the electoral system and composition of the
legislature could be reconciled.
As a result, 10 seats were added to the Legislative Assembly, 5 to
be nominated by each party. A cabinet of ministers also was formed
consisting of 8 members of the SDP and 4 of the SPUP, with Chief
Minister Mancham becoming Prime Minister. With independence on June
29, 1976, Mancham assumed the office of President and Rene became
Prime Minister.
The negotiations following the 1974 elections also restored the
islands of Aldabra, Farquhar, and Des Roches to Seychelles upon
independence; those islands had been transferred in November 1965
from Seychelles to form part of the new British Indian Ocean
Territory (BIOT).
Although the SDP/SPUP coalition appeared to operate smoothly,
political divisions between the two parties continued. On June 5,
1977, during Mancham's absence at the London Commonwealth
Conference, supporters of Prime Minister Rene overthrew Mancham in a
smoothly executed coup and installed Rene as President. President
Rene suspended the constitution and dismissed the parliament. The
country was ruled by decree until June 1979, when a new constitution
was adopted.
In November 1981, a group of mercenaries attempted to overthrow the
Rene government but failed when they were detected at the airport
and repelled. The government was threatened again by an army mutiny
in August 1982, but it was quelled after 2 days when loyal troops,
reinforced by Tanzanian forces, recaptured rebel-held installations.
At an Extraordinary Congress of the Seychelles People's Progressive
Front (SPPF) on December 4, 1991, President Rene announced a return
to the multiparty system of government after almost 16 years of
one-party rule. On December 27, 1991, the Constitution of Seychelles
was amended to allow for the registration of political parties.
Among the exiles returning to Seychelles was James Mancham, who
returned in April 1992 to revive his party, the Democratic Party
(DP). By the end of that month, eight political parties had
registered to contest the first stage of the transition process:
election to the constitutional commission, which took place on July
23-26, 1992.
The constitutional commission was made up of 22 elected members, 14
from the SPPF and 8 from the DP. It commenced work on August 27,
1992 with both President Rene and Mancham calling for national
reconciliation and consensus on a new democratic constitution. A
consensus text was agreed upon on May 7, 1993, and a referendum to
approve it was called for June 15-18. The draft was approved with
73.9% of the electorate in favor of it and 24.1% against.
July 23-26, 1993 saw the first multiparty presidential and
legislative elections held under the new constitution, as well as a
resounding victory for President Rene. Three political groups
contested the elections--the SPPF, the DP, and the United Opposition
(UO)--a coalition of three smaller political parties, including
Parti Seselwa. Two other smaller opposition parties threw in their
lot with the DP. All participating parties and international
observer groups accepted the results as "free and fair."
Three candidates contested the March 20-22, 1998 presidential
election--Albert Rene, SPPF; James Mancham, DP; and Wavel Ramkalawan--and
once again President Rene and his SPPF party won a landslide
victory. The President's popularity in elections jumped to 66.6% in
1998 from 59.5% in 1993, while the SPPF garnered 61.7% of the total
votes cast in the 1998 National Assembly election, compared to 56.5%
in 1993. In 2001 President Rene was re-elected once again. |
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