“If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building, or do you change the nail?” - Seychellois Proverb
(Seychelles flag (1996-Present))
Seychelles is a group of islands located on the east coast of Africa.
(Map of where Seychelles is located)
Its capital is Victoria. Victoria is also its largest city. The official languages are English, French and Seychellois Creole. The country is 177 square miles. Seychelles is 94.4% African, 4.8% European, and 0.8% Asian. 86.8% of Seychelles practices Christianity, 2.4% practices Hinduism, 1.6% practices Islam, 1.1% practice traditional African religions and 8.1% are atheist. The total population is 92,000. The climate is humid. Seychelles is a presidential republic.
(Victoria, capital of Seychelles)
Seychelles cuisine consists of seafood shellfish and rice.
(Seychelles cuisine)
The major style of music is contombley.
(Seychellois people performing contombley)
Seychelles’ most popular sport is basketball.
(Seychelles’ 1st basketball team)
Seychelles was originally uninhabited. The Portuguese came to the island in 1502. In 1609 the British came to the island. In 1756 the French came to the island and used it as a trading port for goods and African slaves.
(A painting of slavery in Seychelles)
In 1794 the British took the island from the French.
(Seychelles flag (1903-1961))
In 1966 the 1st elections were held in Seychelles. On June 29th, 1976 Seychelles gained its independence.
(Seychelles flag (1976-1996))
James Mancham became the 1st president.
(James Mancham)
In 1977 a coup d'état by France Albert René ousted the president.
(France Albert René)
The 1979 constitution declared a socialist one party state. In 1981 Mike Hoare led a team of 43 South African mercenaries masquerading as holidaying Rugby players in a coup attempt in what is known as the Seychelles affair.
(Mike Hoare)
In 1986 an attempted coup led by the Seychelles Minister of Defence, Ogilvy Berlouis, caused President René to request assistance from India. In Operation Flowers are Blooming, the Indian naval vessel INS Vindhyagiri arrived in Port Victoria to help avert the coup.
(The INS Vindhyagiri)
In 1993 the constitution was changed. In 2013 Seychelles declared a state of emergency, the tropical cyclone Felleng caused torrential rain, and flooding and landslides destroyed hundreds of houses.
(Destruction from the cyclone)
Today marks the 41st anniversary of Seychelles’ independence and we would like to say happy independence day Seychelles.
Videos of Seychelles Independence
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-67WqMUVIs “Seychelles Independence - 1976”
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