Seychelles , officially
the Republic of Seychelles (French: République des Seychelles; Creole: La Repiblik Sesel),
is an archipelagic island country in the Indian Ocean at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. It consists of 115 islands. Its capital and
largest city, Victoria, lies 1,500
kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland Africa. Other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros, Mayotte (territory of France), Madagascar, Réunion (territory of France), and Mauritius to the south; as well as the Maldives and Chagos Archipelago to the
east. With a population of roughly 94,367, it has the smallest population
of any sovereign African country.
Seychelles was uninhabited
prior to being encountered by Europeans in the 16th century. It faced competing
French and British interests until coming under full British control in the
late 19th century. Since proclaiming independence from the United Kingdom in 1976, Seychelles has developed from a
largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy,
characterized by rapidly rising service, public sector, and tourism activities. From 1976 until 2015, nominal GDP grew
nearly sevenfold, and purchasing power parity
increased nearly sixteenfold. Since the late 2010s, the government has taken
steps to encourage foreign investment.
Seychelles is among the
world's leading countries to protect lands for threatened species,
allocating 42% of its territory for conservation.. Seychelles
today is known for success stories in protecting its flora and fauna. The rare Seychelles black parrot,
the national bird of the country, is now protected. The freshwater crab genus Seychellum is endemic to the granitic Seychelles, and a
further 26 species of crabs and five species of hermit crabs live on the islands. The Aldabra giant tortoise now
populates many of the islands of Seychelles; the Aldabra population is the
largest remaining. These unique reptiles can be found even in captive herds.
The granitic islands of Seychelles may support distinct species of Seychelles giant tortoises;
the status of the different populations is currently unclear. There are several
unique species of orchid on the islands.
Seychelles hosts some of
the largest seabird colonies in the world, notably on
the outer islands of Aldabra and Cosmoledo. In granitic Seychelles the
largest colonies are on Aride Island including the world's largest
numbers of two species. Sooty terns also breed on the islands. Other birds
include Cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and Fairy terns (Gygis alba). From 1848,
stamps of Mauritius were used on mail from Seychelles and are found with the
cancel B64 from that year.
The first post office in
the Seychelles was opened at Victoria, on Mahe, on 11 December 1861
and stamps of Mauritius were used there until 1890. The next post office in
Seychelles was not opened until 1901. The first stamps marked Seychelles were
issued on 5 April 1890 and were of a Queen Victoria key type design. A number of different issues followed, all of
the same design, including surcharges in 1893 and 1901. In 1953, Seychelles
participated in the omnibus stamp issue for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth
II and one stamp was issued. In 1954, the definitive stamps of 1938 were
revised to include the head of Queen Elizabeth II. Regular commemorative and
definitive stamp issues have followed. The head of Queen Elizabeth II, or the
Initials E II R, were dropped from Seychelles stamps on independence in 1976.
Stamps marked Zil Eloigne
Sesel (1980-1982), Zil Elwagne Sesel (1982-1984) and Zil Elwannyen Sesel
(1985-1992) were issued for the Seychelles outer islands of Aldabra, Coetivy, Farquhar and Amirante. These islands were served by the travelling post office on
the M.V. Cinq-Juin. Issues ceased in 1992.
The right side corner stamp is representing their famous Bioreserve Island Aldabra. There were as a post office long back, but now a days no one is residing there.
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