The Seychelles islands, that lie 5 degrees south of the equator in the Indian Ocean, were discovered by the Portuguese. They were occupied by pirates until the French took over in the 18th century and then by the British in the 19th until 1976, when they became independent. The hundred or so Seychelles islands occupy a total area of only 410 square kilometers.
Tourism provides more than half of the gross national product.
The government has encourages jet set tourism and tries to exclude budget travellers by setting minimum prices on all tourist accommodations. The beaches are beautiful with huge boulders breaking the monotony of flat expanses of sand. Big vacation cruise ships tie up just south of this Yacht Club in the center of Victoria harbor. The ferries to Praslin and Digne leave just north of here . The size of the Ministry of Tourism, the yellow building behind this modern sculpture at the eastern end of Independence Avenue, gives you an idea of the importance given to that industry by the Seychelles government.