Welcome to Displore and thanks for watching, in this video we taking you off the coast of Main Land Africa and we are shining the light on one of the smallest country in the world, Seychelles. Official refered to as the Republic of Seychelles, Seychelles is an archipelago made up of 115 volcanic islands in the Indian ocean. out of the 115 islands in Seychelles only three are inhabited, the island of mahé, praslin and the island of La Digue. Other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius to the south; as well as the Maldives and Chagos Archipelago to the east. With a population of roughly 97 thousand people and a surface area of about 459 km2, Seychelles is the 189th smallest country and 195th least populated country in the world. Seychelles got its independence from Britain in June 1976 and the main languages spoken in the country are French, English and Seychellois creole. Seychelles has developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy, with agriculture being supplanted by rapidly rising service and public sectors as well as tourism. If you are new here, welcome, be sure to subscribe and turn on Notification so you don’t miss any of our videos The current president of Seychelles is Danny Faure and with that said, here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Seychelles. 1. Seychelles is the Richest Country in Africa inem of Per Capita Income. As we already mentioned at the beginning of this video, seychlles is the smallest sovereign country in the world, Despite being the smallest, It ranks as the richest country of Africa in terms of GDP, with a reported per capita income of $30,486. Seychelles is characterized as a highly developed country. However, income inequality is also rampant. The country's economy is largely based on tourism. Fishing and the processing of natural resources such as coconut also play an important role. Before tourists began to visit the country, plantations used to drive the economy of Seychelles. In recent decades, the government has tried to come up with initiatives to reduce the dependence on tourism. Although it has been suspected that Seychelles may harbor offshore oil reserves, to this date none have been found. 2. The largest Living land Toitoise in the world is found in Seychelles Seychelles is home to the Aldabra giant tortoise. Esmeralda found in Seychlelles is the world’s biggest and heaviest free-roaming tortoise. He weighs over 304kg and is thought to be as much as 170 years old. And here’s another rather remarkable thing about him - Esmeralda was named by Lyall Watson, the famous botanist/zoologist and author of Supernature. Watson was visiting Guy Savy, the owner of Bird Island, Seychelles, when the very large tortoise approached them. As Guy tells the story: “We were having fun naming our newfound friend. I think it was Lyall who first mentioned Esmeralda: a happy and far reaching name for such a docile creature. In those days, a wild animal, especially a reptile, was sexed only for research. I don’t think Esmeralda minds." Esmeralda is one of many Aldabra tortoises living on Bird Island, a coral cay surrounded by white-sand beaches and turquoise sea. The Aldabra atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the largest wild Aldabra giant tortoise population in the world. There are about 100,000 of them - that’s more tortoises than there are humans in the island nation! 3. The Island has Hidden Pirate Treasure Worth Millions of Dollars The island of Mahe in seychelles is believed to have pirate treasure hidden somewhere underneath its soil. The treasure was buried by the infamous pirate Olivier Le Vasseur during the 18th century. Reginald Cruise-Wilkins of Seychelles initiated a treasure hunt to find the “La Buse” treasure in 1949, but was unsuccessful. Today, his son continues in his father’s footsteps and searches for clues that will lead to the treasure. In collaboration with the Seychelles Tourism Board, he also conducts a treasure hunt for interested tourists visiting the island. 4. Seychelles Is a Country of Immigrants with No Indigenous Population Throughout most of its recorded history, the islands of Seychelles were uninhabited. Europeans first discovered the islands in 1502 and the first recorded landing occurred in 1609. Prior to that, the islands were possibly visited by Arab and Maldivian traders, but no conclusive evidence confirming this assumption has been found. Thus, the population of Seychelles is mainly comprised of immigrants who arrived following the French colonization of the islands, including African slaves and later indentured laborers from South Asia. The descendants of these immigrants now make up the population of Seychelles making it one one the top countries in Africa with the most Diverse Population.