ABSTRACT
The Republic of Seychelles is one of the tiniest nations in the world. The total area of all its lands is no more than 171 square miles, about one and a half times the size of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. There are ninety-two named islands in the Republic of Seychelles, plus a number of smaller unnamed bits and pieces. These islands are geographically located in four major clusters-commonly called the Seychelles, Amirante, Farquhar, and Aldabra groups-with four small solitary islands having been included in the country along with these four main groups because of their proximity. The Seychelles were first charted extensively by France in the 1740s, at the instigation of Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, then governor of Mauritius and Réunion. The British fought for Mauritius and the Seychelles because Mauritius commanded the route between India and the Cape and because French corsairs and pirates were a menace to British East India Company ships returning from India.
