_#_Disputes: claims Tromelin Island
_#_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
_#_Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops 18%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 18%; other 60%
_#_Environment: lies outside the cyclone belt, so severe storms are
rare; short droughts possible; no fresh water, catchments collect rain;
40 granitic and about 50 coralline islands
_#_Note: located north-northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean
_*_People
_#_Population: 68,932 (July 1991), growth rate 0.9% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 23 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 15 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 75 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Seychellois (sing. and pl.);
adjective--Seychelles
_#_Ethnic divisions: Seychellois (mixture of Asians, Africans,
Europeans)
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 90%, Anglican 8%, other 2%
_#_Language: English and French (official); Creole
_#_Literacy: 58% (male 56%, female 60%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1971)
_#_Labor force: 27,700; industry and commerce 31%, services 21%,
government 20%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 12%, other 16% (1985);
57% of population of working age (1983)
_#_Organized labor: three major trade unions
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Seychelles
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Victoria
_#_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 Island), Grand' Anse (on Praslin Island),
La Digue, La Riviere Anglaise, Mont Buxton, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance,
Pointe La Rue, Port Glaud, Saint Louis, Takamaka
_#_Independence: 29 June 1976 (from UK)
_#_Constitution: 5 June 1979
_#_Legal system: based on English common law, French civil law, and
customary law
_#_National holiday: Liberation Day (anniversary of coup), 5 June
(1977)
_#_Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Assemblee
du Peuple)
_#_Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President France Albert
RENE (since 5 June 1977)
_#_Political parties and leaders: only party--Seychelles People's
Progressive Front (SPPF), France Albert RENE
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 17
_#_Elections:
President--last held 9-11 June 1989 (next to be held June 1994);
results--President France Albert RENE reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 5 December 1987 (next to be
held December 1992);
results--SPPF is the only party;
seats--(25 total, 23 elected) SPPF 23
_#_Communists: negligible, although some Cabinet ministers
espouse pro-Soviet line
_#_Other political or pressure groups: trade unions, Roman Catholic
Church
_#_Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Second Secretary, Charge d'Affaires
ad interim Marc R. MARENGO; Chancery (temporary) at 820 Second Avenue,
Suite 201, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 687-9766;
US--Ambassador James B. MORAN; Embassy at 4th Floor, Victoria
House, Victoria (mailing address is Box 148, Victoria, and Victoria
House, Box 251, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles, or APO New York 09030-0006);
telephone (248) 25256
_#_Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), white (wavy), and green;
the white band is the thinnest, the red band is the thickest
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: In this small, open, tropical island economy, the tourist
industry employs about 30% of the labor force and provides the main
source of hard currency earnings. In recent years the government has
encouraged foreign investment in order to upgrade hotels and other
services. At the same time, the government has moved to reduce the high
dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing,
and small-scale manufacturing.
_#_GDP: $283 million, per capita $4,100; real growth rate 7.0% (1989)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1989)
_#_Unemployment rate: 9% (1987)
_#_Budget: revenues $170 million; expenditures $173 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
_#_Exports: $31 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--fish, copra, cinnamon bark, petroleum products
(reexports);
partners--France 63%, Pakistan 12%, Reunion 10%, UK 7% (1987)
_#_Imports: $164 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--manufactured goods, food, tobacco, beverages,
machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products;
partners--UK 20%, France 14%, South Africa 13%, PDRY 13%,
Singapore 8%, Japan 6% (1987)
_#_External debt: $171 million (1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 7% (1987); accounts for
10% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 25,000 kW capacity; 67 million kWh produced,
960 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: tourism, processing of coconut and vanilla, fishing,
coir rope factory, boat building, printing, furniture, beverage
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 7% of GDP, mostly subsistence farming;
cash crops--coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla; other products--sweet potatoes,
cassava, bananas; broiler chickens; large share of food needs imported;
expansion of tuna fishing under way
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY78-89), $26
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1978-88), $310 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $5 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $60 million
_#_Currency: Seychelles rupee (plural--rupees);
1 Seychelles rupee (SRe) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Seychelles rupees (SR) per US$1--5.0878 (January
1991), 5.3369 (1990), 5.6457 (1989), 5.3836 (1988), 5.6000 (1987), 6.1768
(1986), 7.1343 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 260 km total; 160 km bituminous, 100 km crushed stone or
earth
_#_Ports: Victoria
_#_Merchant marine: 1 refrigerated cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
1,827 GRT/2,170 DWT
_#_Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 14 total, 14 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: direct radio communications with adjacent
islands and African coastal countries; 13,000 telephones; stations--2 AM,
no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; USAF tracking station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Protection Unit,
Police Force, Militia
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 17,399; 8,933 fit for military
service
_#_Defense expenditures: $12 million, 6% of GDP (1990 est.)
_%_
_@_Sierra Leone
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 71,740 km2; land area: 71,620 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than South Carolina
_#_Land boundaries: 958 km total; Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
_#_Coastline: 402 km
_#_Maritime claims: