Seychelles

Overview

Statistics

In jan.it had the most rain fall
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Geography



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History From the end of the 16th century until 1730, the Seychelles remained the secret hiding place for pirates. 1835 : England abolishes slavery on the islands, granting 4000 slaves their freedom 1976 : On 29th June 1996, the Seychelles became an Independent republic. 1994 : The Republic of the Seychelles has a population of approximately 70,000 people. The [|Seychelles] islands remained uninhabited for more than 150 years after they became known to Western explorers. The island appeared on Portuguese charts as early 1505, although [|Arabs] may have visited them much earlier. In 1742, the French Governor of [|Mauritius], [|Bertrand Fran�ois Mah� de La Bourdonnais], 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 [|Jean-Baptiste Qu�au 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 [|Treaty of Paris (1814)]. 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.



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Economy **//Economy.//** In a land-based plantation economy, copra and in some periods cinnamon and vanilla were the main exports. In 1960, about a third of the economically active population worked on plantations, and about 20 percent in the public sector. After the opening of the international airport in 1971, tourism became important. Segmentation of the economy into the tourism and plantation sectors developed. Wages were much higher in the tourism sector. There was little scope for expansion of the plantation economy or for increases in wages, since the wage-paying potential was fixed by international prices of plantation crops. The plantation sector declined, and agriculture now accounts for about 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and less than 10 percent of the workforce. Although Seychelles copra is of very high quality, it is likely that the plantation sector will disappear completely. Tourism now employs 30 percent of the labor force and accounts for 13 percent of GDP and 60 percent of foreign exchange earnings. Although the country is now classified as an upper-middle-income economy by the World Bank, it has retained an unequal income distribution, and in 1992, about 7 percent of the population was considered poor. The Seychelles Rupee (SRS) is the national currency. There is approximately 5 SRS to the USD. this is the flag of seychelles! money from seychelles!

Industry: fishing, tourism, processing of coconuts and vanilla, coir (coconut fiber) rope. Agriculture: coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla, sweet potatoes; broiler chickens; tuna fish. Exports: canned tuna, frozen fish, cinnamon bark, copra, petroleum products (reexports

Government //capitols name is// Victoria, independence day 29 June 1976 (from UK) Constitution Day (National Day), 18 June (1993) 18 June 1993 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) [|**Political pressure groups and leaders:**] Roman Catholic Church; trade unions [|**Flag**] **description:** five oblique bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, red, white, and green (bottom) radiating from the bottom of the hoist side
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**religion**

 * //Religious Beliefs.//** Most of the people are Roman Catholic (90 percent) or Anglican (8 percent). What the priests teach is somewhat different from the beliefs and practices of the layperson. Seychellois traditionally had a strong belief in spirits (//nam//) and sorcery (//gri-gri//). Some sorcerers were very influential.
 * //Religious Practitioners.//** Religious practitioners are priests of the various churches as well as the healers/sorcerers.
 * //Rituals and Holy Places.//** There are no religious rituals specific to the Seychellois, and the Christian religious feasts are celebrated.
 * //Death and the Afterlife.//** In general, people follow Christian conceptions of death and the afterlife. Linked to ideas about sorcery was the belief that the spirit of a person prematurely killed by sorcery could be made to serve the sorcerer for the duration of that person's natural life span.

Culture Traditionally, Seychelles adapted most of the cultures from Asia, Africa and Europe. Therefore, the cuisine, music and dances bare no exceptions. The dances can be categorised into two //main// streams. Moutya and Sega are of African and Madagascan origin. Others are from more French background known as Kanmtole with its components of Vals, Polka, Berlin and kontredans. The bands for such dances would be made up of instruments such as ,accordion and maybe extra percussions. And of course replaced by modern instruments and synthesisers.

Pr**oblem** Health and nutritional conditions are remarkably good, approaching those of a developed country. The favorable projections of life expectancy are attributable in large degree to a salubrious climate, an absence of infectious diseases commonly associated with the tropics (such as malaria, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, and cholera), and the availability of free medical and hospital services to all Seychellois. Local threats to health include intestinal parasites such as hookworm and tapeworm. Venereal diseases are widespread, and local programs to contain their spread have been described as ineffective. Dengue fever epidemics--although not fatal--have periodically struck large segments of the population, causing severe discomfort and unpleasant aftereffects. Alcoholism is a serious problem, and narcotic use--mainly of marijuana and heroin--is beginning to appear among the young. In late November 1992, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); a year previously the ministry had announced that twenty people tested positively for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

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