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People
Cultural Demography
Seychelles is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa. The principal island is Mahe and is also the home of the capital, Victoria. The two other islands with significant permanent populations are Praslin and La Digue. The total population is estimated to be approximately 88,000.
Although visited by Phoenicians, Malays and Arabs, and used in the 16th century by the Portuguese as a stopover point, the Seychelles remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century. Pirates and privateers set up bases on the islands, and in 1741 the governor of Mauritius (then called Île de France) sent Lazare Picault to explore them. The French claimed possession of the islands in 1756 and French settlers from Mauritius, with their African slaves, began to arrive from 1770.
The population is of mixed French, African, Indian, Chinese and Arab descent. There are small minority populations of Europeans, Indians and Chinese.
The vast majority of the population is Roman Catholic. There are small numbers of Anglicans, other Christians and Muslims. With belief in the supernatural and in gris-gris, the old magic of spirits often coexists with Christian belief. Sorcery was outlawed in 1958, but is still practiced, according to some accounts.
The official languages are Seychellois Creole, English and French. Seychellois Creole, predominantly of French origin, is widely used.
Health and Welfare
The literacy rate for the population age 15 and over is 92 percent, according to recent estimates. Life expectancy is 72.6 years of age (males: 67.27 years; females: 78.1 years) and the infant mortality rate is 14.36 deaths per 1,000 live births. Education expenditures in the country amount to five percent of GDP. Health expenditures in this country amount to four percent of GDP.
HIV/AIDS has infected a much smaller percentage of the population than in many African countries. However, the World Health Organization estimated the number of HIV cases to have doubled from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. This dramatic increase in the number of cases in such a short period of time has alarmed officials. As a result, the government approved a new national policy for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. This new and far reaching policy institutes a penalty for the willful spread of HIV, and it states that the government will establish a coordination mechanism for the control of HIV/AIDS. It also gives guidelines for the testing, prevention and surveillance of HIV/AIDS which includes the regular testing of parents, security forces, pregnant women and students returning from training abroad.
In comparison to sub-Saharan African counterparts, the standard of living in the Seychelles is high though distribution of income is largely bifurcated. The economy has continued to grow at a modest but steady rate since 1994. The economy of the Seychelles is largely dependent upon tourism, which directly accounts for more than a third of all employment. Given the very small population of the country, bad years for tourism produce tremendous economic shocks to the quality of life throughout the country. The second most important industry is international (offshore) banking.
Human Development
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 177 countries, the HDI placed Seychelles in the high human development category, at 50th place.
Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.
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