By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the " Isle de France " which was renamed Mauritius was ceded to Great Britain, together with Rodrigues and the Seychelles.

The French originally settled the Seychelles in 1770, setting up plantations which relied heavily on slave labour to produce cotton, sugar, rice, and maize.

Imports of all kind are controlled by the Seychelles Marketing Board ( SMB ), a government parastatal which operates all the major supermarkets and is the distributor and licensor of most other imports.

In 1995, Seychelles saw the privatization of the Seychelles Tuna Canning Factory, 60 % of which was purchased by the American food company Heinz.

Although foreign banks operate branches in Seychelles, the government owns the two local banks — the Development Bank of Seychelles, which mobilizes resources to fund development programs, and the Seychelles Saving Bank, a bank for savings and current accounts.

Seychelles is home to a number of offshore incorporation specialists which specialize in offshore company formation, mutual funds, hedge funds and captive insurance.

New detailed studies and exploration shows that the Seychelles potentially have large off-shore petroleum reservoirs which are yet to be discovered.

Beginning at the turn of the millennium the Seychelles Petroleum Company ( SEPEC ) started to develop the first fleet of modern petroleum double-hull tankers ( five vessels ), which was completed by late 2007 / early 2008 with the possibility to build more in the near future.

The Seychelles President claims that this has opened the door to a new industry for his country and encouraged economic growth by further removing over-reliance on traditional trades like fisheries and tourism, which is now falling rapidly as the country's main income but nevertheless, has experienced significant growth in recent years.

In the Seychelles, the main television and radio network is operated by the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation which offers locally produced news and discussion programmes in the Seychellois Creole language.

Natasha Lesperance, of the Youth Service Bureau, praised the vision of targeting young people to build a modern future for the Seychelles nation with telecommunications and believed that internet cafés opening in different districts would " wean young people and children away from all vices in society, which will eventually help to build a vibrant knowledge-based society that can stand shoulder to shoulder with any developed nation in the world ".

Seychelles possesses transportation systems which include: 453km of roads ( of which 400km are paved ), seaports and airports.

The Seychelles is part of the granitic Mascarene Plateau which broke off from the Indian Plate about 65 mya.

Because of its long isolation, the Seychelles hosts several unique species including the Coco de mer, a palm which has the largest seeds of any plant and the world's largest population of giant tortoises.

Examples include upwellings around the Galapagos Islands and the Seychelles Islands, which have major pelagic fisheries.

The atoll is located at and belongs to the Aldabra Group, one of the island groups of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, which includes the island of Assumption and the atolls of Astove and Cosmoledo.

Initially in banknote form only, The Seychellois Rupee circulated alongside and was equal to the Mauritian rupee, which had circulated in the Seychelles since 1877.

The fruit, which requires 6 – 7 years to mature and a further two years to germinate, is sometimes also referred to as the Sea Coconut, Love Nut, double coconut, coco fesse, or Seychelles Nut.

This day gecko also shares its habitat with Phelsuma astriata which may be eaten or pursued by the Seychelles giant day gecko if it attempts to reside on the same trees.

The frog is a living fossil and was initially assigned to a new family of its own, Nasikabatrachidae, but has been more recently assigned to the family Sooglossidae which is found on the Seychelles islands.

The area of long-term eruption ( the hotspot ), known as the Réunion hotspot, is suspected of both causing the Deccan Traps eruption and opening the rift that once separated the Seychelles plateau from India.

The island is located off the Southeastern African coast, northwest from Seychelles, and its capital city was Hammer Bay.

International tourism is a significant factor in the local economy of Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Réunion, Hawaii and the Maldives, among others.

The only way to fly to Ascension is to fly with the RAF via RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, England on an overnight charter, operated ( as of September 2010 ) by an Air Seychelles Boeing 767-300ER.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Seychelles, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Seychelles culture is a mixture of French and African ( Creole ) influences.

Politics of Seychelles takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Seychelles is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.

New five star properties and the devaluation of the currency by nearly 33 % by the Seychelles Government is having a positive influence on the tourism sector as well.

The decision to let the currency trade freely as part of the IMF rescue package means that Seychelles is the smallest country in the world that has a completely independent currency-one that is neither pegged, nor an adopted foreign currency, nor a common currency used within a larger monetary union.

In May 2010 an International Monetary Fund mission visited Seychelles and concluded the country is making progress.

The Seychelles International Business Authority ( SIBA ) is charged with overseeing the quickly growing offshore industry.

In Seychelles the main daily newspaper is the Seychelles Nation, dedicated to the local government views and current affairs and topics.

In terms of sea transport, the main port is Victoria, and Seychelles has no merchant marine.

The Seychelles government is one of the proponents of the Indian Ocean zone of peace concept and it has promoted an end to the United States presence on Diego Garcia.

Seychelles is represented in Russia through its embassy in Paris ( France ) and an honorary consulate in Saint Petersburg.

The U. S. Ambassador to Mauritius also is accredited to Seychelles.

It is administered as a French overseas territory, as the result of an agreement with the United Kingdom in 1954, but sovereignty is disputed with ownership claimed by both Mauritius and the Seychelles.

* 1976 – The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom.

A High Commission could also be charged with the last phase of a decolonization, as in the crown colony of the Seychelles, granted autonomy on 12 November 1970: the last Governor, Colin Hamilton Allen ( 1921 – 1993 ) stayed on as the only colonial High Commissioner from 1 October 1975, when self-rule under the Crown was granted, until 28 June 1976 when the Seychelles became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.

In 1976, a short lived coin series was introduced celebrating the nation's newly independent status and featuring the first president of Seychelles, James Mancham.

Michel followed President René through different political posts during all periods of the Seychelles ' history as an independent entity.

The SNP was formed by the merger of three separate opposition parties in 1994: the Seychelles National Movement, led by Gérard Hoarau ; the National Alliance Party, led by Philippe Boullé ( an independent presidential candidate in the 2001 presidential election ); and Parti Seselwa, led by Wavel Ramkalawan.

It remained a colony until 1976 when Seychelles became an independent nation.

From 1976, Coetivy has been in the independent Seychelles and