Part I 1. Historical introduction Seychelles, with a population of 81, 117 people and a land area of 453 km2 is one of the world's smallest nations, comprising 115 islands uninhabited until fairly recent times. Although known and visited by traders from the Persian Gulf area and East Africa in earlier times, the Seychelles Archipelago first appeared on European maps at the beginning of the sixteenth century after Portuguese explorers sighted the islands during voyages to India. A French expedition from Mauritius reached the islands in 1742, and after a formal claim to them in 1756 the French planters and their slaves were the first to settle here. The settlers, who were supposed to plant crops only to provision the garrison and passing French ships, found it more lucrative to exploit the islands' natural resources. In 1789 the French Revolution began. One year later Settlers decided to form an Assembly and declared independence from Ile de France. This newly found independence was not to last long. Possession of the islands alternated between France and Britain several times during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Finally France ceded Seychelles to Britain in 1814 in the Treaty of Paris. Britain administered Seychelles as a dependency of Mauritius, from which they received little attention and few services In 1835 slavery was abolished by the British Government and a little over 6500 slaves were set free. Political development proceeded very slowly. Seychelles were granted increasing administrative autonomy from Mauritius. In 1888 separate