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| Seychelles - Not all African Countries Are Left Behind! Here's the Proof... |
Seychelles - Not all African Countries Are Left Behind! Here's the Proof...
Ever heard of the country of seychelles? Seychelles is one of the sovereign states that enters the region of africa. Country It is a small country with its small population, . the country is also located in the middle of the indian ocean about 1500 kilometers away from the mainland of Africa.
However, who would have thought that if this small country had the highest GDP among other African countries, this country also had a low level of corruption, and became one of the lowest in africa.
By the world bank, seychelles is one of only 2 african countries classified as high-income economies. Then how can this small country get it all? The Republic of Seychelles or what in Indonesian is called by the name of seiselensa is one of the island countries in the African region.
The country consists of about 115 islands located in the Indian Ocean. The seychelles region is about 1500 kilometers east of mainland Africa. The countries and territories closest to the seychelles region include the comoros of madagascar, mauritius, maldives and overseas territories of the french state namely the islands of reunion and mayotte, as well as the chagos archipelago which is an English territory in the Indian Ocean.
The total land area of this island country is about 459 square kilometers. If we try to compare the area with the area of the region in Indonesia, the area of the seychelles country is the size of the area of the city of Prabumulih which is in the province of South Sumatra, with an area of 434.46 km2.
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| Seychelles - Not all African Countries Are Left Behind! Here's the Proof... |
The republic of seychelles is an island nation, it is said that the number of islands in the country amounts to 115 islands, but within the constitution of the republic of seychelles the number of islands registered in its country is 155 islands. Most of the islands in the country are uninhabited and about 42% of the total area is used for conservation areas. Seychelles is one of the world's leading countries focused on land protection efforts for threatened species.
In 2020, it is estimated that the total population of the seychelles country is 98,462 people. Making it a sovereign state in africa with the least population. Because the islands in the seychelles have no natives.
The inhabitants of the seychelles or so-called seychellois today are descended from peoples who immigrated, of which the largest ethnic groups are the people of africa, france, india, and china.
Seychelles has 3 official languages in the country, namely French, English and creole languages of seychelles. Kreol seychelles is the most widely spoken mother tongue and the de facto national language of the country, of which about 91% of the country's population are native speakers of the language. Christianity is the largest religion in the seychelles with about 89.2% of the population being followers of Christianity.
While Hinduism is the 2nd largest religion with a percentage of 2.4% and followed by Islam with a percentage of adherents of 1.6% of the population. The form of government of the seychelles state is a presidential republic. The president of the seychelles, who is the head of state and head of government, is elected by vote for a five-year term.
The cabinet is headed and appointed by the president, with the approval of a legislative majority. The current president of the republic of seychelles is a wavel ramkalawan who has officially occupied his post since October 26, 2020. In economics, the seychelles is one of only two countries in africa that is classified as a high-income economy by the world bank, and the other country is mauritius.
Plantations were the main industry of the seychelles at least until the 1970s. since proclaiming independence from the UK in 1976, the country has grown from a largely agrarian society to a market-based diversified economy, characterized by services, the public sector and rapidly increasing tourism activities.
And currently seychelles has the highest nominal GDP per capita among other African countries, the country also has the second highest human development index on the african continent after mauritius.
History of seychelles. It is not known exactly the history of the islands in the seychelles during the period before the arrival of europeans in the region. These islands had no permanent inhabitants until the arrival of europeans around the 18th century.
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| Seychelles - Not all African Countries Are Left Behind! Here's the Proof... |
However, many historians assume that the existence of these islands was known to austronesian peoples from Borneo from about 200 to 300 AD, where later these people settled in madagascar.
In addition to the austronesian people, the arab merchants on trade voyages across the Indian Ocean, probably knew the islands, although they did not settle there. The Portuguese were the first European nation to see the islands of the seychelles. Precisely by vasco da gama on his voyage from india to east africa on 15 march 1503.
The ship that vasco da gama boarded passed through the amirante archipelago, they then mapped a group of seven islands in the region and named them the seven sisters. The earliest recorded landing was in January 1609, by the crew of the ascension ship of the trading fleet of the East India company of England who made its voyage to india.
The region later became a transit point for trade between africa and asia, it is also said that the islands were sometimes used by pirates until finally the french began to take control in 1756. France, which at that time already occupied mauritius, in 1756 sent 2 of its ships to this region and claimed them as part of the french.
They later named the region after isle de sechelles. French colonists then brought a large number of creole slaves from mauritius to the seychelles. It is said that these were the later ancestors of the current population of seychelles.
In 1790, as a result of the French revolution, the settlers of France formed a colonial assembly and decided that they would run their own colonies, according to their own constitution.
In 1794, three British warships came to the region, having no power to fight the enemy, finally through a capitulation treaty, the seychelles were handed over to the English side. This treaty also granted neutral status specifically to the settlers of the seychelles.
In this period, the British carried out a blockade of french colonies in the indian ocean and in 1810, the british finally managed to take full control of the territory of mauritius from the french which was inaugurated in 1814 at the treaty of paris.
While the seychelles became a dependent territory with mauritius. The Seychelles became a separate British colony from mauritius in 1903.
During the colonization period, the British saw the seychelles as a useful place to exile troubled political prisoners. For many years, the region became home to political prisoners from zanzibar, egypt, cyprus and palestine.
Britain finally granted independence to the seychelles in 1976. The Seychelles officially became an indepnden republic on 29 June 1976 and since then the country has officially become a member of the British commonwealth.