Geography of Seychelles

The Seychelles is a small island nation located in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar and about 1,600km (1,000 miles east of Kenya The nation is an archipelago of 115 tropical islands, some granite and some of coral. Thirty-three of these are inhabited.

The Granitic Group, consists of 40 granite islands, all within a 56 km (35 mile) radius of the main island of Mahe. These islands are rocky, and most have a narrow coastal stripe and a central range of hills rising as high as 914 meters (3,000 feet). Mahe is the largest island, with a size of 142 km² (55  miles²). This is the location of Victoria, the capital.

Together with two nearby coralline islands, Bird Island and Denis Island at a distance of 90 km in the North, they fall under the collective term Inner Islands with an area of 243.7 km², but more than 98 percent of the population of the Seychelles.

The Outer Islands are a collecive term for three groups of coralline islands:

• Southern Coral Group, a collective term for île Platte and Coetivy Island (those two islands in the South are sometimes grouped with the Inner Islands)
• Amirante Islands and Alphonse Atoll
• Aldabra Group (with Aldabra Atoll, Assumption Island, and the Cosmoledo Group consisting of Cosmoledo Islands and Astove Island)
• Farquhar Group (with Farquhar Islands, Cerf, Providence, St Pierre Islands)

The Outer Islands comprise 211.3 km², but less than 2 percent of the population of the Seychelles.

The coral islands are flat with elevated coral reefs at different stages of formation. They have no fresh water and can sustain human life only with difficulty.

Geology

The Seychelles is part of the granitic Mascarene Platform which broke off from the Indian Plate about 65 MYA. This rift formation is associated with the Réunion hotspot which is also responsible for Réunion Island and the Deccan Traps in India. Because of its long isolation, the Seychelles hosts some of the most unique species in the world including the Coco de mer, a palm which has the largest seeds of any plant and the world's largest population of giant tortoises.

Climate

The climate is equable and healthy, although quite humid, as the islands are small and subject to marine influences. The temperature varies little throughout the year. Temperatures on Mahe vary from 24°C to 29.9°C (75°F-85°F), and rainfall ranges from 288 centimeters (90 in.) annually at Victoria to 355 centimeters (140 in.) on the mountain slopes. Precipitation is somewhat less on the other islands. During the coolest months, July and August, it drops to as low as 70°F. The southeast trade winds blow regularly from May to November, and this is the most pleasant time of the year. The hot months are from December to April, with higher humidity (80). March and April are the hottest months, but the temperature seldom exceeds 88°F. Most of the islands lie outside the cyclone belt, so high winds are rare.

Facts and figures

Geographic coordinates: Template:Coor dm

Area:
total: 455 sq km
land: 455 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 491 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Morne Seychellois 905 m

Natural resources: fish, copra, cinnamon trees

Land use:
arable land: 2%
permanent crops: 13%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 11%
other: 74% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol