SEYCHELLES
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 455 km2; land area: 455 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than 2.5 times the size of
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 491 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims Tromelin Island
Climate: tropical marine; humid; cooler season during southeast
monsoon (late May to September); warmer season during northwest monsoon
(March to May)
Terrain: Mahe Group is granitic, narrow coastal strip, rocky,
hilly; others are coral, flat, elevated reefs
Natural resources: fish, copra, cinnamon trees
Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops 18%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 18%; other 60%
Environment: lies outside the cyclone belt, so severe storms are
rare; short droughts possible; no fresh water, catchments collect rain;
40 granitic and about 50 coralline islands
Note: located north-northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean
PEOPLE
Population: 68,932 (July 1991), growth rate 0.9% (1991)
Birth rate: 23 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 15 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 75 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Seychellois (sing. and pl.);
adjective--Seychelles
Ethnic divisions: Seychellois (mixture of Asians, Africans,
Europeans)
Religion: Roman Catholic 90%, Anglican 8%, other 2%
Language: English and French (official); Creole
Literacy: 58% (male 56%, female 60%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1971)
Labor force: 27,700; industry and commerce 31%, services 21%,
government 20%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 12%, other 16% (1985);
57% of population of working age (1983)
Organized labor: three major trade unions
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Seychelles
Type: republic
Capital: Victoria
Administrative divisions: 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 Island), Grand' Anse (on Praslin Island),
La Digue, La Riviere Anglaise, Mont Buxton, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance,
Pointe La Rue, Port Glaud, Saint Louis, Takamaka
Independence: 29 June 1976 (from UK)
Constitution: 5 June 1979
Legal system: based on English common law, French civil law, and
customary law
National holiday: Liberation Day (anniversary of coup), 5 June
(1977)
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Assemblee
du Peuple)
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President France Albert
RENE (since 5 June 1977)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Seychelles People's
Progressive Front (SPPF), France Albert RENE
Suffrage: universal at age 17
Elections:
President--last held 9-11 June 1989 (next to be held June 1994);
results--President France Albert RENE reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 5 December 1987 (next to be
held December 1992);
results--SPPF is the only party;
seats--(25 total, 23 elected) SPPF 23
Communists: negligible, although some Cabinet ministers
espouse pro-Soviet line
Other political or pressure groups: trade unions, Roman Catholic
Church
Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Second Secretary, Charge d'Affaires
ad interim Marc R. MARENGO; Chancery (temporary) at 820 Second Avenue,
Suite 201, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 687-9766;
US--Ambassador James B. MORAN; Embassy at 4th Floor, Victoria
House, Victoria (mailing address is Box 148, Victoria, and Victoria
House, Box 251, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles, or APO New York 09030-0006);
telephone (248) 25256
Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), white (wavy), and green;
the white band is the thinnest, the red band is the thickest
ECONOMY
Overview: In this small, open, tropical island economy, the tourist
industry employs about 30% of the labor force and provides the main
source of hard currency earnings. In recent years the government has
encouraged foreign investment in order to upgrade hotels and other
services. At the same time, the government has moved to reduce the high
dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing,
and small-scale manufacturing.
GDP: $283 million, per capita $4,100; real growth rate 7.0% (1989)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 9% (1987)
Budget: revenues $180 million; expenditures $202 million, including
capital expenditures of $32 (1989)
Exports: $40 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--fish, copra, cinnamon bark, petroleum products
(reexports);
partners--France 63%, Pakistan 12%, Reunion 10%, UK 7% (1987)
Imports: $186 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--manufactured goods, food, tobacco, beverages,
machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products;
partners--UK 20%, France 14%, South Africa 13%, PDRY 13%,
Singapore 8%, Japan 6% (1987)
External debt: $171 million (1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 7% (1987); accounts for
10% of GDP
Electricity: 25,000 kW capacity; 67 million kWh produced,
960 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, processing of coconut and vanilla, fishing,
coir rope factory, boat building, printing, furniture, beverage
Agriculture: accounts for 7% of GDP, mostly subsistence farming;
cash crops--coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla; other products--sweet potatoes,
cassava, bananas; broiler chickens; large share of food needs imported;
expansion of tuna fishing under way
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY78-89), $26
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1978-88), $310 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $5 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $60 million
Currency: Seychelles rupee (plural--rupees);
1 Seychelles rupee (SRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Seychelles rupees (SR) per US$1--5.0878 (January
1991), 5.3369 (1990), 5.6457 (1989), 5.3836 (1988), 5.6000 (1987), 6.1768
(1986), 7.1343 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 260 km total; 160 km bituminous, 100 km crushed stone or
earth
Ports: Victoria
Merchant marine: 1 refrigerated cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
1,827 GRT/2,170 DWT
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
Airports: 14 total, 14 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: direct radio communications with adjacent
islands and African coastal countries; 13,000 telephones; stations--2 AM,
no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; USAF tracking station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Protection Unit,
Police Force, Militia
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 17,399; 8,933 fit for military
service
Defense expenditures: $12 million, 6% of GDP (1990 est.)