It is thought that the Seychelles archipelago was visited by early Arab, Phoenician and Indonesian traders, but the first recorded sighting was by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama at the beginning of the 16th century. Until as little as just over 200 years ago, it remained uninhabited. In 1756 French planters claimed Mahé and seven other islands for France. The islands, until then known as the Amirantes (Admiral da Gama had named them after himself), were re-named in honour of the French king’s accountant, Vicomte Moreau de Séchelles. The Seychelles, annexed by Britain in 1794, was placed under the administration of Mauritius. Over the course of the 19th century, administration was handled by ‘old India hands’ – men and women with some experience of the tropics.

For the next 150 years, isolated from the rest of the world and all but ignored by the major European powers, the Seychelles developed their own traditions, language and culture. The islands became a Crown Colony in 1903. Internal self-government was granted in 1975 and independence a year later. This isolated island paradise might have seemed an unlikely setting for the cut and thrust of Cold War politics, but in the years after independence, Seychellois politics were dominated by precisely that. The first post-independence Prime Minister, James Mancham, leader of the Seychelles Democratic Party, believed that tourism and offshore financial services offered the best economic future for the islands. While Mancham attended the 1977 Commonwealth Conference, armed supporters of the left-wing opposition Seychelles People’s United Party (SPUP) staged a coup.

Party leader, Albert René, took power, and despite several externally sponsored attempts to depose him, retained control of an authoritarian one-party state throughout the 1980s. However, aid donors, particularly France and Britain, put the Seychelles under pressure to follow the African trend of introducing multi-party politics. This had its effect in December 1991, when René announced to a stunned People’s Progressive Party (renamed from SPUP) congress that presidential elections would be held in the near future. James Mancham returned to the islands to contest the presidency as leader of the newly-formed Democratic Party. The election, which was eventually held in July 1993, was essentially a straight fight between René and Mancham. The incumbent René won comfortably. Since then he has won two further terms of office, while Mancham retired from active politics soon after his 1993 defeat. René’s fifth and most recent victory was in September 2001, when he defeated Wavel Ramkalawan, standing for the Seychelles Democratic Party (which now forms the nation’s main opposition party).

Since the end of the Cold War, the strategic position of the Seychelles has become less important and the government has undertaken something of a rapprochement with the West while seeking to build up its links with South and South-East Asia. In July 2003, the government announced the Seychelles’ withdrawal from the South African Development Conference, which caused some dismay in the region’s main economic and trade organisation. On the domestic front, René’s success in building up infrastructure (especially for the vital tourism industry) and basic public services meant that, despite the often intolerant attitude of the government towards opposition and a tendency towards cronyism and nepotism, he continued to enjoy the support and confidence of much of the population. However, in April 2004, after more than a quarter of a century in power, René retired and handed presidency over to his vice-president, James Michel. There is debate whether Michel can win the 2006 elections. Doubts persist as to the Seychelles' slow and halting process of democratisation under the ruling FPPS party.

Constitutional restrictions, introduced after the 1977 coup, on political organisation outside the then-ruling SPUP (see above) were lifted in 1991. The president holds executive power, while legislation is in the hands of the National Assembly, presently comprising 34 members, 25 directly elected and nine allocated on a proportional basis. Both the president and the National Assembly are subject to direct popular elections every five years.