n.
officially Republic of Seychelles
Island republic, western Indian Ocean.
Area: 175 sq mi (453 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 83,400. Capital: Victoria . The mixed population is of French, African, and Asian ancestry. Languages: Creole, English, French. Religion: Roman Catholicism. Currency: Seychelles rupee. Located east of northeastern Tanzania, the Seychelles are composed of two main island groups: the Mahé group of 40 central mountainous islands and a second group of over 70 outlying, flat, coralline islands. The country has a developing economy that is heavily dependent on tourism. Exports include fish, copra, and cinnamon. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. The first recorded landing on the uninhabited Seychelles was made in 1609 by an expedition of the British East India Company . The archipelago was claimed by the French in 1756 and surrendered to the British in 1810. The Seychelles became a British crown colony in 1903 and a republic within the Commonwealth in 1976. A one-party socialist state since 1979, it began moving toward democracy in the 1990s; it adopted a new constitution in 1993. Multiparty elections have been held since 1991.