Photos and Videos of the Seychelles
Dreamislands made up of stone and coral in the western Indian Ocean. Famous for secluded beaches, almost untouched nature, ecological variety and friendly people. That awaits visitors to the Seychelles.
The Republic of the Seychelles gathers 115 islands slightly south of the equator off the eastcoast of africa. The largest and most famous islands Mahe, Praslin and La Digue are part of the so called "Inner Islands" and together with other small neighbouring granite islands they belong to the oldest islands in the world. The Seychelles cover a seaarea of 400.000km² spotted by these granite islands and numberous coral islands.
Most people assume, that this paradise was discovered by the french. But wrong - the portuguese mentioned these islands first in 1505. Before that they were probably visited by arabic traders before the french - along with some indians and africans - settled in 1770. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo 1815, the islands were demanded by the United Kingdom. The Seychelles were part of the UK until their independence in 1976 and belong nowadays to the Commonwealth. Francois Albert Rene introduced a multi party system. After his retreat in 2004 his vice president James Alix Michel became new president of the Seychelles.
Today the relatively young population of the Seychelles consists of 81.000 people and is an example of a well working multi ethnic society living peacefully together. Religious liberty is self-evident on the mainly by roman catholic populated islands. Official languages are Kreol, English and French.
The Climate of the seychelles is perfect for visitors. Almost completly untouched by cyclones, the temparature ranges from 24°C to 32°C. North west monsuns bring a slightly more rainfalls and calm sea, while the period between May and September is rather drier and often welcoming windy. Depending on your interests the Seychelles are fine for travelling all the year round.
The paradisiac islands are well and above all also safe for travelling: neither poisonous animals, nor tropical diseases, hardly poverty or crime.
The Seychelles provide a unique wealth on endemic biota, for example the biggest upraised coral atoll of the world - Aldabra, which is also home of the biggest population of the big land turtle, the nature reserve Valle de Mai on Praslin, where the special Coco-de-Mer is growing. By the way both places have been declared as world natural heritage by the UNESCO. There are the paradise flycatcher (a small bird), the last flightless bird in the Indean Ocean and the only left 8 speciemen of the "quallenbaum". Or simply the fantastic and often deserted sandy beaches, with palmtrees and lush green vegetation and the crystal clear turquoise sea - nature lovers looking for tranquility will sure find their spot of paradise on this unique islands.
With a strict environment legislation - which takes every tourism project an environmental review - the Seychelles would like to lead the way for a sustainable tourism. The ambition of this development is a well preserved environment, which attracts financially strong visitors (150 000 per year in 2007) rather than short term mass tourism. Since 1993 a law guarantees the citizens right to clean environment and at the same time obligate them to protect this environment. Thus nearly 50% of the land area of the Seychelles are under natural conservation, the highest percentage worldwide!
Primary branch of trade is tourism (19% of the BNE). 70% of the foreign exchange proceeds are produced in the tourism industry and it employs about 30% of the working population. Another main pillar is fishing. Additional returns by placing licenses to foreign fish canneries are a result of the formation of an exclusive economic zone in the Indian Ocean. Due to natural absence of cultivable land, the islands have to import food for example even rice, but also other agricultural products as well as convenience goods. Foreign currency from the tourism industry are running back abroad to a high percentage, which leads to a chronically trade balance deficit. Nevertheless the Seychelles are head of the african nations with a gross national income per capita of about 8 200 US$.