MAHE ISLAND

largest island of the Seychelles archipelago, Republic of Seychelles, in the western Indian Ocean. The island is 4 miles (6 km) wide and 16 miles (26 km) long and has an area of 57 square miles (148 square km). The island is granitic in origin and mountainous; the highest peak is Morne Seychellois, which rises to 2,969 feet (905 m) and forms part of a national park of the same name. Port Launay Marine National Park is nearby on the northwestern side of the island, and Sainte-Anne Marine National Park is in Victoria Harbour to the northeast. A narrow coastal plain around the perimeter of the island provides most of the cropland. Almost 90 percent of the population of the Republic of Seychelles live on Mah, which is the site of Victoria, the republic's capital and only port. Mah's chief exports are copra, cinnamon bark and leaf oil, patchouli, and vanilla. Tea is also grown. A paved-road system provides internal communication for the entire island, while Port Victoria and an international airport provide external communication and promote tourism. In the early 1960s a U.S. Air Force satellite-tracking station was built in the mountains in the centre of the island. Pop. (1984 est.) island and dependencies, 57,400.