Background: A lengthy struggle between France and Great Britain for the islands ended in 1814 when they were ceded to the latter. Independence came in 1976. Socialist rule was brought to a close with a new constitution and free elections in 1993. President France-Albert RENE who had served since 1977 was re-elected in 2001 but stepped down in 2004. Vice President James MICHEL took over the presidency and in July 2006 was elected to a new five-year term; he was reelected in May 2011.

Geographic coordinates: 4 35 S 55 40 E

Area
Rank: 199
Comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 491 km

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

Irrigated land: 3 km²

Natural hazards: lies outside the cyclone belt so severe storms are rare; occasional short droughts

Geography
Note: 41 granitic and about 75 coralline islands

Population: 90,024 (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 197
Growth rate: 0.922% (2012 est.)
Growth rate rank: 120
Below poverty line: NA%

Ethnic groups: mixed French African Indian Chinese and Arab

Languages: Creole 91.8% English (official) 4.9% other 3.1% unspecified 0.2% (2002 census)

Religions: Roman Catholic 82.3% Protestant 7.5% (Anglican 6.4% Seventh-Day Adventist 1.1%) other Christian 3.4% Hindu 2.1% Muslim 1.1% other non-Christian 1.5% unspecified 1.5% none 0.6% (2002 census)

Population growth rate: 0.922% (2012 est.)
Rank: 120

Birth rate: 15.1 births/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 134

Death rate: 6.9 deaths/1000 population (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 135

Net migration rate: 1.02 migrant(s)/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 53

Environment
Current issues: water supply depends on catchments to collect rainwater

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 136

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 115

Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Rank: 141

Physicians density: 1.51 physicians/1000 population (2004)

Hospital bed density: 3.94 beds/1000 population (2009)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 25.1% (2004)
Rank: 11

Education expenditures: 5% of GDP (2006)
Rank: 55

Government type: republic

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) Grand' Anse (on Praslin) La Digue La Riviere Anglaise Mont Buxton Mont Fleuri Plaisance Pointe La Rue Port Glaud Saint Louis Takamaka

Independence: 29 June 1976 (from the UK)

National holiday: Constitution Day (National Day) 18 June (1993)

Constitution: 18 June 1993

Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law French civil law and customary law

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (34 seats; 25 members elected by popular vote 9 allocated on a proportional basis to parties winning at least 10% of the vote; members to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal; Supreme Court; judges for both courts are appointed by the president

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party or DP [James MANCHAM Paul CHOW]; New Democratic Party or NDP; People's Party (Parti Lepep) or PL [France Albert RENE]; Popular Democratic Movement or PDM; Seychelles National Party or SNP [Wavel RAMKALAWAN] (formerly the United Opposition or UO)

International organization participation: ACP AfDB AOSIS AU C CD COMESA FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO InOC Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO (correspondent) ITU MIGA NAM OIF OPCW SADC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO (observer)

Diplomatic representation
From the us: the US does not have an embassy in Seychelles; the ambassador to Mauritius is accredited to Seychelles

Flag description: five oblique bands of blue (hoist side) yellow red white and green (bottom) radiating from the bottom of the hoist side; the oblique bands are meant to symbolize a dynamic new country moving into the future; blue represents sky and sea yellow the sun giving light and life red the peoples' determination to work for the future in unity and love white social justice and harmony green the land and natural environment

Economy overview: since independence in 1976 per capita output in this Indian Ocean archipelago has expanded to roughly seven times the pre-independence near-subsistence level moving the island into the upper-middle income group of countries. Growth has been led by the tourist sector which employs about 30% of the labor force and provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings and by tuna fishing. In recent years the government has encouraged foreign investment to upgrade hotels and other services. At the same time the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming fishing and small-scale manufacturing. In July 2008 the government defaulted on a Euro amortizing note worth roughly US$80 million leading to a downgrading of Seychelles credit rating. In an effort to obtain loans to service its debt Seychelles in November 2008 signed a standby arrangement with the IMF that mandated floating the exchange rate removing foreign exchange controls cutting government spending and tightening monetary policy. In response to Seychelles' successful implementation of these policies the IMF upgraded Seychelles to a three-year extended fund facility (EFF) of $31 million in December 2009. In 2008 GDP fell more than 1% due to declining tourism and the initial effects of liberalization but the economy recovered in 2010-11 after the reforms took hold and tourism increased. Growth slowed again in 2012 with flagging tourism from Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Seychelles is attempting to implement further structural reforms including overhauling the tax system reorganizing of state enterprises and deregulating the finance and communications sectors.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 186

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 110

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 52

Agriculture products: coconuts cinnamon vanilla sweet potatoes cassava (tapioca) copra bananas; poultry; tuna

Industrial production growth rate: 2% (2010 est.)
Rank: 125

Labor force: 39,560 (2006)
Rank: 197

Unemployment rate: 2% (2006 est.)
Rank: 13

Population below poverty line: NA%

Budget
Surplus or deficit: 1.5% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 24

Taxes and other revenues: 40.2% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 52

Public debt: 44.4% of GDP (2011 est.)
Rank: 91

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.6% (2011 est.)
Rank: 175

Central bank discount rate:

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 11.19% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 74

Stock of narrow money: $302.3 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 170

Stock of broad money: $598.9 million (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 175

Stock of domestic credit: $422.3 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 174

Market value of publicly traded shares: $N/A

Current account balance: -$211.1 million (2011 est.)
Rank: 76

Exports: $495.1 million (2011 est.)
Rank: 172
Commodities: canned tuna frozen fish cinnamon bark copra petroleum products (reexports)
Partners: France 26.5% UK 21% Japan 11% Italy 10% (2011)

Imports: $877.1 million (2011 est.)
Rank: 179
Commodities: machinery and equipment foodstuffs petroleum products chemicals other manufactured goods
Partners: Saudi Arabia 23.9% Spain 8.3% France 5.8% South Africa 5% Singapore 4.1% (2011)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $252.3 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 154

Debt external: $1.475 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 145

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 245 million kWh (2009 est.)
Production rank: 177
Consumption: 227.9 million kWh (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 183
Exports: 0 kWh (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 126
Imports: 0 kWh (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 129
Installed generating capacity: 95,000 kW (2009 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 170
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 37
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 173
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 196
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 184

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 184
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 179
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 118
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 183

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products production rank: 193
Products consumption: 7,793 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 161
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products exports rank: 130
Products imports: 6,923 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products imports rank: 143

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 187
Consumption: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 191
Exports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 145
Imports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 127
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2012 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 189

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 1.245 million Mt (2010 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 161

Telephones
Main lines in use: 27,900 (2011)
Main lines in use rank: 180
Mobile cellular: 126,600 (2011)
Mobile cellular rank: 187

Broadcast media: the government operates the only terrestrial TV station which provides local programming and airs broadcasts from international services; multi-channel cable and satellite TV are available; the government operates 1 AM and 1 FM radio station; transmissions of 2 international broadcasters are accessible in Victoria (2007)

Internet
Country code: .sc
Hosts: 247 (2012)
Hosts rank: 196
Users: 32,000 (2008)
Users rank: 180

Military expenditures: 2% of GDP (2006 est.)
Rank: 70

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service (younger with parental consent); no conscription (2012)

Airports: 14 (2012)
Rank: 149

Heliports: 1 (2012)

Roadways
Rank: 194

Merchant marine
Rank: 117

Ports and terminals: Victoria

Disputes international: Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Islands (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory)