Victoria () is the capital and largest city of the Republic of

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

, situated on the north-eastern side of Mahé island, the archipelago's main island. The city was first established as the seat of the British colonial government. In 2010, the population of Greater Victoria (including the suburbs) was 26,450 (26.66%) out of the country's total population of 99,202.

History

The area that would become Victoria was originally settled in 1778 by French colonists after they claimed the island in 1756. The town was called ''L'Établissement'' until 1841 when it was renamed to Victoria by the British, after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Economy

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

is an important sector of the economy. The principal exports of Victoria are

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

, coconuts, coconut oil, fish and

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

Education

The Mont Fleuri campus of the

University of Seychelles University of Seychelles, informally also called UniSey, is the primary institution of higher education in Seychelles. It was established on 17 September 2009. There are three campuses: the main campus at Anse Royale, the Mont Fleuri campus off ...

is in Victoria.

Culture

Attractions in the city include a clocktower modelled on Little Ben in London, the courthouse, the

Botanical Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, the

National Museum of History The National Museum of History (NMH; ) is located in the Nanhai Academy in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. After the Republic of China government moved to Taiwan, the National Museum of History was the first museum to be established in Taiwa ...

, the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

and the Sir

Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Sir Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke (, 17 December 1893 – 13 March 1976), KBE, CMG, MC, MD, FRCP, DPH, DTM&H, CStJ Barrister at Law, was the Director of Medical Services, Hong Kong, from 1937 to 1943 and Governor of the Seychelles from 1947 to ...

Market. Victoria Market and the brightly coloured fish and fruit markets is the local hot spot for the Seychellois people.

Places of worship

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Victoria, Seychelles

Hindu Temple Victoria Seychelles Islands of Africa

There are two cathedrals in Victoria, Immaculate Conception Cathedral (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

) and St Paul's Cathedral (

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

). There are also

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

churches,J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices", ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 2591 mosques and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temples.

Sports

Stade Linité, the national stadium, is in Victoria. It is mostly used for football matches.

Transport

Victoria is served by

Seychelles International Airport Seychelles International Airport , or ''Aéroport de la Pointe Larue'' in French, is the international airport of the Seychelles located on the island of Mahé near the capital city of Victoria. The airport is the home base and the head office ...

, completed in 1971. The inner harbour lies immediately east of the town, where tuna fishing and canning is a major industry. One of the largest bridges in Victoria was destroyed by tsunami waves from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

Districts

Four of the

districts of Seychelles Seychelles is divided into 26 districts. All but one are located on the Inner Islands; the Outer Islands (''Zil Elwannyen Sesel'') make up the most recent district. Eight districts make up Greater Victoria, 14 make up the rural part of the main ...

are in Victoria. *Greater Victoria ** English River (La Rivière Anglaise), the central district ** Saint Louis **

Mont Fleuri Mont Fleuri () is an administrative district of Seychelles with its main part located on the island of Mahé. It also includes the six islands of the Sainte Anne Marine National Park and two islets further east ( Beacon Island ( Île Seche) and Ha ...

** Bel Air

Twin towns and sister cities

Victoria is twinned with:

Climate

Victoria features a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Af'') with high temperatures throughout the course of the year. The capital does have noticeably wetter and drier periods during the year, with June and July being its driest months and December through February being the city's wettest months. However, since in no month does the average monthly precipitation falls below in Victoria, the city does not have a true

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

month. This lack of a true dry season month is a primary reason why the climate falls under the tropical rainforest climate category. The capital averages about of rainfall annually. Although being very rainy, skies are usually clear to partly clear and completely cloudy days remain scarce throughout the year even during the rainiest months.

References

External links

* {{Coord, -4.6167, 55.4500, type:city, format=dms, display=title Ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean Capitals in Africa 1770s establishments in Africa Populated places established in 1778