The Seychelles consist of some 115 islands scattered over half a million square miles of the Indian Ocean. Lying between latitudes 4 and 10 degrees south and longitudes 46 and 57 degrees east, it has a land mass of only 178 square miles. The islands comprise the inner islands of ancient granite - the remains of the prehistoric land mass of Gondwana - and numerous coral atolls varying in size from sand banks to the huge Aldabra Atoll. The three main inhabited islands are Mahé, the largest, with the capital Victoria and the International Airport, Praslin and La Digue. Mahé lies just 1000 miles off the African coast of Kenya.

The Seychelles has been known to Arab seafarers for hundreds of years and first appeared on their charts in the ninth century AD. The first visits by Europeans were the Portuguese in 1502, and the British in 1609, but the islands remained uninhabited until after they were claimed for Louis XV of France in 1756 by an Irish sea captain. The French established the first settlement and developed coconut plantations with the aid of African slaves. By 1789, the start of the French Revolution, the population was 588 settlers and slaves; the founders of today's generations. In 1814 the British assumed Sovereignty by the Treaty of Paris. In 1835 slavery was abolished setting free some 6500 slaves. The Seychelles became a crown colony in 1903 and achieved its independence on 29th June 1976.

Albert René gained control of the government by a coup d'état on 5th June 1977 and has remained the country's President ever since. The country is now a multi party state with René's government elected by popular open vote.

Today the population numbers some 80,000 people living on the largest central islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue - 70,000 on Mahé. The people are a mix of the descendants of the original French settlers with British and other Europeans, descendants of the African slaves and an influx of Indian and Chinese migrants, together forming an easy going, harmonious mix of many cultures and religions. The common language is Creole with English and French being the languages of business and government - English being naturally and universally spoken.