History
It is commonly believed that Arab sailors first navigated the waters around Seychelles as early as the 9th century. The Seychelles archipelago was used for a long time as a hideaway by buccaneers who constantly raided ships laden with spices, tea and silk on the trade routes between India, South East Asia and Europe. The islands were the secret haunt of pirates from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century and to this day, legends of buried pirates’ treasures continue to abound in the islands!
After an exploratory expedition by the French in 1742, Seychelles was occupied by the French in 1756 led by Captain Nicolas Morphey and the archipelago was named after King Louis XV's Chancellor, Jean Moreau Sechelles.
In the following years, Seychelles was soon inhabited by groups of Europeans and their slaves. From 1794 to 1811, the sovereignty of the islands fluctuated between France and England several times. In 1815, Seychelles became a dependency of the new British Colony of Mauritius and in 1903, the islands became a separate colony under British rule.
On 29th June 1976, Seychelles became an independent republic. Seychelles is now a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Organisation of African Unity, the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as a large number of international bodies. It is a pluralistic multi-party democracy with a Presidential form of Government.
