Geography
The Seychelles is an archipelagic group comprising of over one hundred Coraline and Granitic islands and islets, spread over a million square klms of the Indian Ocean just 4 degrees south of the Equator.The granitic islands are unique oceanic islands, estimated to be over 600 million years old. Scientists believe that these islands are the remaining peaks of a vast continent known as Lemuria (also sometimes referred to as Gondwanaland), which has now subsided.
The main island of Seychelles is the granitic island of Mahe which also happens to be the largest of the Seychelles’ islands. (27klms long by 8 klms wide). Unlike neighbours such as Mauritius, the Seychelles are ideally located outside the cyclonic belt.
The total population of Seychelles is approximately 89,000 of which almost two thirds live on the main island of Mahe. The granitic group of islands, including the second largest, Praslin, all lie within a radius of 56klms from Mahe.
No permanent population resides on the Coraline group which includes the Amirantes, some 240klms South-West of Mahe.
The lush green vegetation of the Granitic islands is tropical in character. There is a profusion of coconut palms, bananas, mangoes, yams, breadfruit and other tropical fruit. Indigenous forest exists on the higher slopes of ground where vanilla, cinnamon and tea are planted.
An extract taken from the book “ Seychelles What Next” (1991), by permission of the author: Alain St.Ange.
