Seychelles is formally the Republic of Seychelles, an archipelagic island country including 115 islands in the Indian Sea at the eastern edge of the Somali Sea. Its capital and also biggest city, Victoria, is 1,500 kilometres (800 nautical miles) eastern of landmass Africa. Nearby island nations as well as areas consist of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, as well as the French abroad regions of Mayotte as well as Réunion to the south; and Maldives and also the Chagos Island chain (provided by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory) to the eastern. It is the least populated sovereign African nation, with an estimated 2020 population of 98,462.

Seychelles was unoccupied prior to being run into by Europeans in the 16th century. It dealt with competing French and British passions until coming under complete British control in the late 18th century. Because announcing self-reliance from the United Kingdom in 1976, it has developed from a greatly agricultural culture to a market-based diversified economic situation, defined by swiftly increasing service, public industry, and also tourism tasks.

From 1976 to 2015, small GDP expanded nearly 700%, and also buying power parity almost 1600%. Given that the late 2010s, the government has actually taken actions to motivate foreign financial investment.

Today, Seychelles flaunts the highest nominal per capita GDP of any African country. It has the second-highest Human Advancement Index of any kind of African country after Mauritius. It is among only 2 African nations classified as a high-income economic climate by the Globe Financial Institution (the various other being Mauritius).

Seychellois society and culture are a diverse mix of French, British, and African influences, with more current infusions of Chinese and Indian elements. The country belongs to the United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Neighborhood, and the Commonwealth of Nations.