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Seychelles
 
[Flag of
                                    the United Kingdom]
1794 - 1903
 
[Colonial Flag of the
                                    Seychelles 1903-1961]
1903 - Apr 1961
 
[Colonial Flag of the
                                    Seychelles 1961-1976]
Apr 1961 - 28 Jun 1976
 
[flag of
                                    the Seychelles 1976-1977]
28 Jun 1976 - 29 Jun 1977
[flag of
                                    the Seychelles 1977-1996]
29 Jun 1977 - 18 Jun 1996
[Flag of
                                    the Seychelles]
Adopted 18 Jun 1996
Map of Seychelles Hear National Anthem
"Koste Seselwa"
(Seychellois Unite)
Adopted 18 Jun 1996
Hear Former Anthem
"Fyer Seselwa"
 (Be Proud Seychellois)

(1978-18 Jun 1996)
---------------------------------
1976-1978 Anthem
"En Avant" (Forward)
Constitution
(21 Jun 1993)
Capital: Victoria
(Établissement du Roi 1778-1814;
Mahé 1770-1778, 1814-1842)
Currency: Seychelles Rupee
(SCR); 1900-1903 Mauritius
Rupee (MUR) 
National Holiday: 29 Jun (1976)
National Day
Population: 95,981 (2019)
GDP: $2.75 billion (2017) 
Exports: $564.8 million (2017)
Imports: $1.15 billion (2017)
Ethnic groups: Seychellois Creole (mixed African, Asian,
European) 93.2%, British 3%, French 1.8%, Chinese 0.5%,
Indian 0.3%, Arab and other 1.2% (2000)
Total Active Armed Forces: 200 (2010)
Merchant marine: 25 ships (2018)
Religions: Roman Catholic 76.2%, Protestant 10.6%
(Anglican 6.1%, Pentecoastal Assembly 1.5%, Seventh-Day
 Adventist 1.2%, other Protestant 1.6), other Christian 2.4%,
Hindu 2.4%, Muslim 1.6%, other non-Christian 1.1%,
unspecified 4.8%, none 0.9% (2010)
International Organizations/Treaties: ACP, AfCFTA, AfDB, AOSIS, APM, AU, BTWC, C, CCM, CD, COMESA, CTBT, CWC, EITI, ESCR, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, ICSID, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IORA, IPU, IRENA, ISA, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, NPT, NTBT, OIF, OPCW, OST, SADC, UN, UNCLOS, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFCC, UNFCC-KP, UNFCC-PA, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Seychelles
Chronology

1501                       Portuguese explorer, João da Nova discovered the
                             islands now known as the Farquhar Atoll.
1502                       Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered the
                             islands now known as the Amirantes Islands.
1609                       English expedition arrives at Mahé and makes the
                             first recorded landing (no settlement).
21 Nov 1742                Claimed for France (Isle Mahé sighted 19 Nov 1742)
                             by Lazare Picault (b. 1708 - d. 1742), and named
                             Îles de La Bourdonnaye. 
 1 Nov 1756                Annexed by France (Îles de Seychelles); but no
                             settlement.
27 Aug 1770                First settlers arrived on the island of Ste. Anne.
1778                       First establishment created on Mahé, called
                             L'Etablissement du Roi (The King's Establishment).
17 May 1794 - 13 Mar 1802  Occupied by the U.K (French administration civil
                             continues).
 3 Feb 1803 - 17 May 1810  Nominally part of French colony of Indes-Orientales
                             (see Mauritius)(not effected).
24 Sep 1804                Re-occupied by the U.K (French administration civil
                             continues to 17 May 1810).
 2 Jun 1811                British possession (Seychelles Islands)(part of  
                             Mauritius).
15 Oct 1814                British possession proclaimed by Treaty of Paris
                             (of 30 May 1814).
 9 Nov 1903                Colony of Seychelles (separation from Mauritius,
                             by Letters Patent of 31 Aug 1903).
 8 Nov 1965 - 28 Jun 1976  Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches Islands part of
                             British Indian Ocean
Territory.
1967                       Seychelles
12 Nov 1970                Autonomy
(by Seychelles Order 30 Sep 1970).
 1 Oct 1975                Full internal autonomy (by Seychelles [Constitution]
                             Order 17 Sep 1975, S.I. 1975 No. 81).
28 Jun 1976                Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches Islands are
                             returned to the Seychelles by the U.K.
29 Jun 1976                Independence from Britain (Republic of 

                             Seychelles).
21 Jun 1993                Kreole, English and French named as national
                             languages by the constitution of 1993.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Commandants (subordinated to Île de France [Mauritius])
1744 - 1770                None
1770 - 1772                Jean Charles Delaunay
1772 - 1777                Jean Antoine Anselme               (b. 1741 - d. 1802)
Dec 1778 - 1781            Charles Routier de Romainville     (b. 1739? - d. 1808)
1781 - 1783                François Claude Berthelot de la    (b. 1750 - d. 1822)
                             Coste

1783 - Sep 1788            Nicolas Benoît Antoine Gillot de   (b. 1736? - d. 1790)
                             Doron

Sep 1789 - Sep 1792        Louis Jean-Baptiste Philogène      (b. 1748 - d. 1825)
                             de Malavois
Sep 1792 - 1793            Charles Joseph Enouf               (b. 1748 - d. 1811)
 9 Sep 1793 -  2 Jun 1811  Jean-Baptiste Quéau de Quinssy     (b. 1748 - d. 1827)
Commandants and Civil Agents (subordinated to Mauritius)
 
2 Jun 1811 - 1812         Bartholomew Sullivan (acting)
     (b. 178. - d. 1835)
1812 -  7 Nov 1814         Bibye Le Sage                      (b. 1779 - d. 1843)
 
7 Nov 1814 - 1822         Edward Henry Madge                 (b. 1776 - d. 1850?)
Government Agents
1822 - 30 Aug 1826         Edward Henry Madge                 (s.a.)
30 Aug 1826 - 1837         George Harrison (acting to 1827)   (d. 1841)   

1837 - Feb 1839            Arthur Wilson                      (b. 180. - d. 186.)
Civil Commissioners
Feb 1839 - 21 Apr 1850     Charles Augustus Mylius            (b. 1795? - d. 1873)

21 Apr 1850 - Jul 1850     William Ford (1st time) (acting)   (b. 181. - d. 1865)
Jul 1850 - 23 Nov 1852     Robert William Keate               (b. 1814 - d. 1873)

20 Aug 1850 - 1850         William Ford (2nd time)            (s.a.)
                             (acting for Keate)
23 Nov 1852 - 10 May 1853  Dashwood Watt Ricketts (acting)    (b. 1805 - d. 1887)
10 May 1853 - 25 Sep 1861  George Thompson Wade               (b. 1815 - d. 1861)

1854 - 1854                William Ford (3rd time)            (s.a.) 
                             (acting for Wade)
1856 - 1856                William Harrison Hollier Griffiths (b. 1793 - d. 1857)
                             (acting for Wade)
 5 Dec 1857 - 1858         Charles Robert Telfair (1st time)  (b. 1822 - d. 1870)
                             (acting for Wade)
Jan 1859 - Sep 1859        Charles Robert Telfair (2nd time)  (s.a.)
                             (acting for Wade)
25 Sep 1861 - 17 Nov 1861  Cyprien Hermodan Eugène Dupuy      (b. 1820 - d. 1881)
                            
(1st time)(acting)
17 Nov 1861 - 15 Aug 1862  Robert Cecil Dudgeon (acting)      (b. 1823 - d. 1871)
15 Aug 1862 - 12 Dec 1862  Cyprien Hermodan Eugène Dupuy      (s.a.)
                             (2nd time)(acting)
12 Dec 1862 - Mar 1869     Swinburne Ward                     (b. 1830 - d. 1885)

1868 - 1868                James Henry Brooks                 (b. 1831 - d. 1920)
                             (acting for Ward)
Mar 1869 - Jul 1869        Louis Gustave Trouchet (acting)    (b. 1835 - d. 1891)
Jul 1869 - 25 Nov 1872     William Hales Franklyn             (b. 1816 - d. 1874)

Chief Civil Commissioners
26 Nov 1872 -  3 Apr 1874  William Hales Franklyn             (s.a.)
 
3 Apr 1874 - 1874         Édouard Amand Esnouf (acting)      (b. 1842 - d. 1917)

1874 - 1875                Arthur Elibank Havelock (1st time) (b. 1844 - d. 1908)
                             (acting)
1875 - 1879                Charles Spencer Salmon             (b. 1832 - d. 1896)

1879 - 11 Dec 1879         Ange Edmond de La Peyre (acting)   (b. 1840 - d. 1916)
11 Dec 1879 -  9 Oct 1880  Arthur Elibank Havelock (2nd time) (s.a.)

Aug 1880 -  9 Oct 1880     Henri Eugène Desmarais (1st time)  (b. 1843 - d. 1928)
                             (acting for Havelock)
 9 Oct 1880 - 24 Feb 1881  Francis Theophilus Blunt           (b. 1837 - d. 1881)

24 Feb 1881 -  1 Mar 1881  Henri Eugène Desmarais (2nd time)  (s.a.)
                             (acting)
 1 Mar 1881 - 28 Jan 1882  Henry Cockburn Stewart (acting)    (b. 1844 - d. 1899)

Dec 1881 - 28 Jan 1882     Henri Eugène Desmarais (3rd time)  (s.a.)
                             (acting for Stewart) 
28 Jan 1882 - 1888         Arthur Cecil Stuart Barkly         (b. 1843 - d. 1890)

Apr 1886 - Feb 1887        George Hollier Griffiths           (b. 1839 - d. 1911)
                             (acting for Barkly)
1888 - 18 Feb 1889         Richard Myles Brown (acting)       (b. 1847 - d. 19..)
Administrators

18 Feb 1889 - 17 Mar 1895  Thomas Risely Griffith             (b. 1848 - d. 19..)
16 Nov 1891 - 17 May 1892  Richard Myles Brown (1st time)     (s.a.)
                             (acting for
Griffith)   
17 Mar 1895 - 17 Jun 1895  Richard Myles Brown (2nd time)     (s.a.)
                             (acting)
17 Jun 1895 - 15 May 1899  Henry Cockburn Stewart             (s.a.)

15 May 1899 - 20 Nov 1899  Richard Myles Brown (3rd time)     (s.a.)
                             (acting)
20 Nov 1899 -  9 Nov 1903  Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott        (b. 1857 - d. 1941)

Governors and Commanders-in-chief
(also Commissioners of British Indian Ocean Territory 8 Nov 1965 - 28 Jul 1976)
 9 Nov 1903 - 30 May 1904  Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott        (s.a.)
30 May 1904 - 28 Dec 1912  Walter Edward Davidson             (b. 1859 - d. 1923)
May 1907 - Nov 1907        Eric Blackwood Wright              (b. 1860 - d. 1940)
                             (acting for Davidson)
Apr 1911 - Nov 1911        Alfred Karney Young (1st time)     (b. 1865 - d. 1942)
                             (acting for Davidson)
16 Dec 1912 - 28 Dec 1912  Alfred Karney Young (2nd time)     (s.a.)
                             (acting for Davidson)
28 Dec 1912 -  8 Oct 1918  Charles Richard Mackey O'Brien     (b. 1859 - d. 1935)
23 Jul 1916 - 20 Mar 1917  Ewen Reginald Logan (1st time)     (b. 1868 - d. 1945)
                             (acting for O'Brien)   
13 May 1918 -  8 Oct 1918  Ewen Reginald Logan (2nd time)     (s.a.)
                             (acting for O'Brien)  
 8 Oct 1918 - 26 Sep 1922  Sir Eustace Edward Twisleton-      (b. 1864 - d. 1943)
                             Wykeham-Fiennes
13 Mar 1921 - 26 Sep 1922  Philip Bertie Petrides             (b. 1881 - d. 1956)
                             (acting for Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes)
26 Sep 1922 - 13 Aug 1927 
Sir Joseph Aloysius Byrne          (b. 1874 - d. 1942)
 6 Apr 1927 - 13 Aug 1927  Justin Louis Devaux (1st time)     (b. 1884 - d. 1943)
                             (acting for Byrne)
13 Aug 1927 - 27 Nov 1927  Sir Malcolm Stevenson              (b. 1878 - d. 1927)
27 Nov 1927 - 1928         Justin Louis Devaux (2nd time)     (s.a.)
                             (acting)
1928 - 24 Mar 1928         Robert Stephen Vere de Vere        (b. 1872 - d. 1936)
                             (acting)
24 Mar 1928 - Mar 1934     De Symons Montagu George Honey     (b. 1872 - d. 1945)
                             (from 25 Feb 1932, Sir De Symons Montagu George Honey)
Dec 1931 - May 1932        Patrick Joseph Stanislaus Walsh    (b. 1872 - d. 1943)
                             (acting for Honey)
Mar 1934 - 19 May 1936     Gordon James Lethem                (b. 1886 - d. 1962)
                             (from 1 Jan 1936, Gordon James Lethem)
 5 Nov 1935 - 17 Mar 1936  Arthur Evelyn Weatherhead          (b. 1880 - d. 1956)
                             (acting for Lethem)
25 Mar 1936 - 19 May 1936  Ernest Gardiner Smith              (b. 1880 - d. 1956)
                             (acting for Lethem)
19 May 1936 - 30 Mar 1942  Arthur Francis Grimble             (b. 1888 - d. 1956)
                             (from 1 Jan 1938, Sir Arthur Francis Grimble)
30 Mar 1942 - 12 Jul 1947  William Marston Logan              (b. 1889 - d. 1968)
                             (from 8 Jun 1944, Sir William Marston Logan)
1947 - 12 Jul 1947         Francis Derek Jakeway              (b. 1915 - d. 1993)
                             (acting for Logan)
12 Jul 1947 - 14 May 1951  Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke         (b. 1893 - d. 1976)
                             (from 1 Jan 1951, Sir Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke)
20 Aug 1950 - 14 May 1951  Kenneth Graeme Stewart Smith       (b. 1918 - d. 2001)
                             (acting for Selwyn-Clarke)
14 May 1951 - 17 Oct 1953  Frederick Crawford                 (b. 1906 - d. 1978)
10 Jun 1953 - 17 Oct 1953  Gordon Matthews Hector             (b. 1918 - d. 2001)
                             (acting for Crawford)
17 Oct 1953 - Jan 1958     William Addis                      (b. 1901 - d. 1978)
                             (from 9 Jun 1955, Sir William Addis)   
Oct 1957 - Jan 1958        Kenneth James Knaggs               (b. 1920 - d. 2001)
                             (acting for Addis)
Jan 1958 - 13 Aug 1961     Sir John Kingsmill Robert Thorp    (b. 1912 - d. 1961)
                              (from 132 Jun 1959, Sir John Kingsmill Robert Thorp)
20 Jan 1959 - 25 Feb 1959  Ian Woodroffe (1st time)           (b. 1924 - d. 2001)
                             (acting for Thorp)    
21 Jun 1960 - 19 Nov 1960  Ian Woodroffe (2nd time)           (s.a.)
                             (acting for Thorp)     
13 Aug 1961 - 27 Jan 1962  Ian Woodroffe (3rd time)           (s.a.)
                             (acting [for Thorp to 13 Aug 1961])
22 Jan 1962 - 27 Jan 1962  George Peter Lloyd (1st time)      (b. 1926 - d. 2007)
                             (acting)
27 Jan 1962 - 15 Apr 1967  Julian Edward George Asquith,      (b. 1916 - d. 2011)
                             Earl of Oxford and Asquith 
17 Dec 1964 - 1965         George Peter Lloyd (2nd time)      (s.a.)
                             (acting for Asquith)
 7 Apr 1967 - 15 Apr 1967  Adrian Ernest Forsyth-Thompson     (b. 1925 - d. 1971)
                             (acting for Asquith)
15 Apr 1967 - 13 Mar 1969  Sir Hugh Selby Norman-Walker       (b. 1916 - d. 1985)
13 Mar 1969 -  8 Nov 1973  Bruce Greatbatch                   (b. 1917 - d. 1988)
                             (from 16 Feb 1970,
Sir Bruce Greatbatch)
 
8 Nov 1973 - 28 Jun 1976  Colin Hamilton Allan               (b. 1921 - d. 1993)
Presidents
29 Jun 1976 -  5 Jun 1977  Sir James Richard Marie Mancham    (b. 1939 - d. 2017)  SDP
 5 Jun 1977 - 14 Apr 2004  France-Albert René                 (b. 1935 - d. 2019)SPUP;1978 SPPF
14 Apr 2004 - 16 Oct 2016  James Alix Michel                  (b. 1944)          SPPF;2009 PP
16 Oct 2016 - 26 Oct 2020  Danny Antoine Rollen Faure         (b. 1962)            PP
26 Oct 2020 -              Wavel John Charles Ramkalawan      (b. 1961)            SNP+LDS


Chief minister

12 Nov 1970 - 30 Sep 1975  James Richard Marie Mancham        (s.a.)               SDP
Prime ministers 
 1 Oct 1975 - 28 Jun 1976  James Richard Marie Mancham        (s.a.)               SDP
                            
(from 22 Jun 1976, Sir James Richard Marie Mancham)
29 Jun 1976 -  5 Jun 1977  France-Albert René                 (s.a.)               SPUP

 5 Jun 1977                Post abolished

Territorial Disputes: Seychelles and Mauritius claim the Chagos Islands the Chagos Islands (U.K.-administered British Indian Ocean Territory).

Party abbreviations: LDS = Linyon Demokratik Seselwa/Seychellois Democratic Alliance (liberal,  named Linyon Sanzman/Alliance for Change to 2016, coalition of SNP, Seychelles Party for Social Justice and Democracy [SPSD], Seychelles United Party [SUP] and to 2018 Lalyans Seselwa, est.2015); PP = Parti Lepep/People's Party/Parti Populaire (democratic socialist, former SPPF, est.Jun 2009); SDP = Seychelles Democratic Party/Parti Démocratique Seychellois (conservative, governing party 1970-77, est.1964, banned 1979, re-est.1992); SNP = Seychelles National Party (centrist, liberal, est.1994);
- Former parties: SPPF = Seychelles People's Progressive Front/Front Progressiste du Peuple Seychellois (social-democratic, center-left, 26 Mar 1979-30 Dec 1991 only legal party, former SPUP, 9 Jun 1978-Jun 2009, renamed PP); SPUP = Seychelles People's United Party/Parti Uni du Peuple Seychellois (social-democratic, center-left, pro-independence, Jun 1964-9 Jun 1978, renamed SPPF)




© Ben Cahoon