Victoria, Seychelles

Victoria

Location of Victoria on Mahé Island
Victoria

Location in Seychelles

Coordinates: SC 4°37′S 55°27′E / 4.617°S 55.450°E / -4.617; 55.450
Country Seychelles
Island Mahé
Area
 • Total 20.1 km2 (7.8 sq mi)
Population (2010)[1]
 • Total 26,450

Victoria (sometimes called Port Victoria) is the capital city of the Seychelles and is 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 out of the country's total population of 90,945.[2]

The principal exports of Victoria are vanilla, coconuts, coconut oil, fish and guano.[3]

Victoria Clocktower

Attractions in the city include a clocktower modelled on that of Vauxhall Clock Tower in London, England,[3][4] the Courthouse, the Victoria Botanical Gardens, the Victoria National Museum of History, the Victoria Natural History Museum and the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market.[3] Victoria Market is the local hotspot for the Seychellois people and the brightly coloured Fish and Fruit Markets are not to be missed. Also nearby is the gallery of the renowned local artist Georges Camille.

The city is home to the national stadium, the International School Seychelles and a polytechnic.

Victoria is served by Seychelles International Airport, completed in 1971.[3] The inner harbour lies immediately east of the town, where tuna fishing and canning forms a major local industry.[3] One of the largest bridges in Victoria was destroyed by tsunami waves from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.[4]

History

The area that would become Victoria was originally settled in 1778 by French colonists after they claimed the island in 1756, but it wasn't until after the Treaty of Paris of 1814 was signed that the British formally established Victoria and gave it its modern name.[5][6]

District

Victoria proper is composed of parts of three Districts of Seychelles:

  1. English River (La Riviere Anglaise) (the innermost part)
  2. Saint Louis
  3. Mont Fleuri

Greater Victoria encompasses these three, and five more of the 25 Districts of Seychelles as follows:

  1. Mont Buxton
  2. Bel Air
  3. Roche Caiman
  4. Les Mamelles
  5. Plaisance

Twin towns and sister cities

Victoria is twinned with:

Country City
Djibouti Republic of Djibouti Djibouti
Vietnam Vietnam Hanoi[7]

Climate

Victoria features a tropical rainforest climate under Köppen's climate classification with generally warm to hot 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 60 mm in Victoria, the city does not have a true dry season 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 over 2,000 mm of precipitation annually.

Climate data for Victoria (Seychelles International Airport)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 29.8
(85.6)		 30.4
(86.7)		 31.0
(87.8)		 31.4
(88.5)		 30.5
(86.9)		 29.1
(84.4)		 28.3
(82.9)		 28.4
(83.1)		 29.1
(84.4)		 29.6
(85.3)		 30.1
(86.2)		 30.0
(86)		 29.8
(85.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 26.8
(80.2)		 27.3
(81.1)		 27.8
(82)		 28.0
(82.4)		 27.7
(81.9)		 26.6
(79.9)		 25.8
(78.4)		 25.9
(78.6)		 26.4
(79.5)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.8
(80.2)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.9
(80.4)
Average low °C (°F) 24.1
(75.4)		 24.6
(76.3)		 24.8
(76.6)		 25.0
(77)		 25.4
(77.7)		 24.6
(76.3)		 23.9
(75)		 23.9
(75)		 24.2
(75.6)		 24.3
(75.7)		 24.0
(75.2)		 23.9
(75)		 24.4
(75.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 379
(14.92)		 262
(10.31)		 167
(6.57)		 177
(6.97)		 124
(4.88)		 63
(2.48)		 80
(3.15)		 97
(3.82)		 121
(4.76)		 206
(8.11)		 215
(8.46)		 281
(11.06)		 2,172
(85.49)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 17 11 11 14 11 10 10 10 11 12 14 18 149
Average relative humidity (%) 82 80 79 80 79 79 80 79 78 79 80 82 79.8
Mean monthly sunshine hours 153.3 175.5 210.5 227.8 252.8 232.0 230.5 230.7 227.7 220.7 195.7 170.5 2,527.7
Source #1: World Meteorological Organization[8]
Source #2: NOAA[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SEYCHELLES". citypopulation.de. City Population. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (1 March 2014). Britannica Book of the Year 2014. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. p. 716. ISBN 978-1-62513-171-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Cybriwsky, Roman A. (2013). Capital Cities around the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 321. ISBN 9781610692489.
  4. 1 2 Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press. 2010. p. 530. ISBN 9780195337709.
  5. ↑ "History". seychelles.travel. Seychelles Tourism Board. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "History of the Seychelles". stgt.com. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Thủ tướng Nguyễn Tấn Dũng hội kiến Tổng thống Seychelles". BÁO ĐIỆN TỬ CỦA CHÍNH PHỦ NƯỚC CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ "World Weather Information Service - Victoria". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  9. ↑ "SEYCHELLES INTL AP Climate Normals 1971-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 16, 2012.

External links

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Coordinates: 4°37′00″S 55°27′00″E / 4.6167°S 55.4500°E / -4.6167; 55.4500

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