Geography
The Seychelles lies just south of the Equator in the Southwest Indian Ocean and at the northwestern part of the “boomerang” shaped Mascarene Ridge. It comprises over 115 islands of a total land area of 445 sq. km spread in an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of approximately 1.33 million sq.km.
Some important characteristics of the country are:
- It is unique in the sense that it is the only group of mid-ocean Islands that is granitic in nature.
- The climate is tropical, enjoying a stable weather system year round and is outside the cyclone belt.
- Its vast Exclusive Economic Zone with an abundance of living marine resources, allows for a thriving fishing industry.
- Seychelles has a unique environment and is well known world wide for its stance on environment. Over 50% of the land territory is protected as National Park.
- It is a well established, safe and welcoming high end tourist destination.
The country has one of the deepest ports in South West Indian Ocean, has good telecommunication facilities with submarine fibre optic cable. An international airport provides many flights daily to the Middle East, and also regular flights to Asia and Africa. The country is free from Malaria, yellow fever and other contagious diseases.
The population is only 87,000 inhabitants, far less than the 150,000 giant tortoises on the World Heritage Site of Aldabra, one of our many coralline islands.
With regards to the Petroleum Sector, currently there is no production of oil and gas and no refinery. PetroSeychelles is the arm of the Government overseeing the upstream petroleum sector. The downstream activities are handled by another Government owned entity – Seychelles Petroleum Company.