:Seychelles Government
Flag:
three horizontal bands of red (top), white (wavy), and green; the white band
is the thinnest, the red band is the thickest
:Seychelles Economy
Overview:
In this small, open, tropical island economy, the tourist industry employs
about 30% of the labor force and provides more than 70% of hard currency
earnings. In recent years the government has encouraged foreign investment
in order to upgrade hotels and other services. At the same time, the
government has moved to reduce the high dependence on tourism by promoting
the development of farming, fishing, and small-scale manufacturing.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $350 million, per capita $5,200; real growth rate
-4.5% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.8% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate:
9% (1987)
Budget:
revenues $180 million; expenditures $202 million, including capital
expenditures of $32 million (1989)
Exports:
$40 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
commodities:
fish, copra, cinnamon bark, petroleum products (reexports)
partners:
France 63%, Pakistan 12%, Reunion 10%, UK 7% (1987)
Imports:
$186 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
commodities:
manufactured goods, food, tobacco, beverages, machinery and transportation
equipment, petroleum products
partners:
UK 20%, France 14%, South Africa 13%, PDRY 13%, Singapore 8%, Japan 6%
(1987)
External debt:
$189 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 7% (1987); accounts for 10% of GDP
Electricity:
30,000 kW capacity; 80 million kWh produced, 1,160 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
tourism, processing of coconut and vanilla, fishing, coir rope factory, boat
building, printing, furniture, beverage
Agriculture:
accounts for 7% of GDP, mostly subsistence farming; cash crops - coconuts,
cinnamon, vanilla; other products - sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas;
broiler chickens; large share of food needs imported; expansion of tuna
fishing under way
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY78-89), $26 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1978-89), $315 million; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $5 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $60
million
Currency:
Seychelles rupee (plural - rupees); 1 Seychelles rupee (SRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
Seychelles rupees (SRe) per US$1 - 5.2946 (March 1992), 5.2893 (1991),
5.3369 (1990), 5.6457 (1989), 5.3836 (1988), 5.6000 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Seychelles Communications
Highways:
260 km total; 160 km paved, 100 km crushed stone or earth
Ports:
Victoria
Merchant marine:
1 refrigerated cargo totaling 1,827 GRT/2,170 DWT
Civil air:
1 major transport aircraft
Airports:
14 total, 14 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways
over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
direct radio communications with adjacent islands and African coastal
countries; 13,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM, no FM, 2 TV; 1
Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; USAF tracking station
:Seychelles Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force, Presidential Protection Unit, Police Force, Militia
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 17,739; 9,096 fit for military service
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $12 million, 4% of GDP (1990 est.)
:Sierra Leone Geography
Total area:
71,740 km2
Land area:
71,620 km2
Comparative area:
slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries:
958 km total; Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
Coastline:
402 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea:
200 nm
Disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry
season (December to April)
Terrain:
coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau,
mountains in east
Natural resources:
diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite
Land use:
arable land 25%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures 31%; forest and
woodland 29%; other 13%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
extensive mangrove swamps hinder access to sea; deforestation; soil
degradation