Mahé, Seychelles

Mahé
	UTC+4)
Official website	www.seychelles.travel/en/discover/the-islands/inner-islands/28-discover/the-islands/2901-mahe

Mahé is the largest island of Seychelles, with an area of 157.3 square kilometres (60.7 sq mi), lying in the northeast of the Seychellois nation in the Somali Sea part of the Indian Ocean. The population of Mahé was 77,000, as of the 2010 census.^[1] It contains the capital city of Victoria and accommodates 86% of the country's total population. The island was named after Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, a French governor of Isle de France (modern-day Mauritius).

History

Mahé was first visited by the British in 1609 and not visited by Europeans again until

King of France

by laying a Stone of Possession on Mahé, Seychelles’ oldest monument, now on display in the National Museum, Victoria.

In August 1801, Royal Navy frigate

Chiffonne

on the island. Mahé remained a French possession until 1812 when it became a British colony. It remained a colony until 1976 when Seychelles became an independent nation.

Mahé had a huge land reclamation project due to a housing shortage in the areas of Bel Ombre and the Port of Victoria.^[2]

Mahé was largely a plantation owned by the Frichot family.^[3] In 1977, France-Albert René staged a coup d’état and forced all the Frichots out of Seychelles or into prison. Some, such as Robert Frichot, were held in René’s jails for several months in 1978 and told to leave Seychelles for their own safety upon release.^[4]

Geography

Mahé's tallest peak is

Morne Seychellois National Park. The northern and eastern parts of the island are home to much of the population and the Seychelles International Airport which opened in 1971. The southern and western parts have Baie Ternay Marine National Park, Port Launay Marine National Park, and University of Seychelles. The Sainte Anne Marine National Park lies offshore, as do Conception Island, Thérèse Island, Anonyme Island

, and several smaller islands.

Mahé's forests have rare endemic plants found only in Seychelles, such as the critically endangered

Medusagyne oppositifolia (the jellyfish tree), the carnivorous Nepenthes pervillei (Seychelles pitcher plant), and many unique species of orchid

.

Administration

The island has multiple districts.[5]

Economy

Mahé's economy is mainly dependent on tourism.

Port of Victoria is home to a tuna fishing and canning industry. From 1963 to 1996, the United States Air Force maintained a satellite control network at the Indian Ocean Station, where it had a significant impact on the local economy.^[7]

Notable people

Margaret Elwyn Sparshott (1870–1940), English matron, born in Mahé.^[8]

Dr. Louis Gaston Labat (1876-1934), an influential physician, leader and advocate of regional anesthesiology, and the original founder of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia in 1923. ^[9]