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50 free Seychelles trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Forty-two questions on Seychelles, the 115-island republic 1,500 km off East Africa that is the continent's smallest and richest country per head. Geography covers Victoria on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue, the granite microcontinent that Wegener used as evidence for continental drift, the Amirantes, Farquhar and Aldabra groups, and Morne Seychellois. History runs from Vasco da Gama's fleet in 1503 and the pirates, through the French Stone of Possession of 1756, the naming for Moreau de Sechelles, the neutral-flag trick of de Quinssy, British rule and the Gran Blan, 1976 independence, Rene's 1977 coup, Mike Hoare's rugby-shirted mercenaries in 1981, India's frigate in 1986, and the opposition's first victory in 2020 under an Anglican priest. Nature and culture cover Aldabra's tortoises, the coco de mer's heaviest seed, the jellyfish tree, 42 percent of land protected, the Seychellois rupee, Creole, sega and moutya, the five-band flag, tuna and tourism, and a piracy fight in the Somali Sea. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the country, its islands, wildlife and leaders, and the sentence that establishes it is quoted under each explanation. Suits a pub quiz, an Indian Ocean geography lesson or a honeymoon planner.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many islands make up the Republic of Seychelles?
115
The constitution names 155 and seven more have been reclaimed since; the great majority are uninhabited nature reserves.
Q 02What is the capital and largest city of Seychelles?
Victoria
It sits on the northeast of Mahe about 1,500 km east of mainland Africa; eight districts make up Greater Victoria.
Q 03Seychelles holds what double distinction among African sovereign states?
Smallest and least populated
About 100,600 people lived there in 2022, yet it has Africa's highest per-capita GDP and Human Development Index.
Q 04What is Seychelles' largest island, home to the capital?
Mahe
It covers 157 square kilometres and held 77,000 people at the 2010 census; Praslin is second largest.
Q 05The inner islands of Seychelles are unusual among oceanic islands because they are made mostly of what?
Granite
They sit on a submerged microcontinent once wedged between India and Madagascar; Alfred Wegener cited them as evidence for continental drift.
Q 06Which Portuguese fleet's crew first recorded the Seychelles on 15 March 1503?
Vasco da Gama's
Thome Lopes made the sighting from Rui Mendes de Brito's ship; the islands stayed uninhabited for another 250 years.
Q 07Seychelles is named after Jean Moreau de Sechelles, who held what post in France?
A politician (finance minister)
Captain Morphey laid a Stone of Possession on Mahe in 1756 and the islands became part of the colony of Isle de France, now Mauritius.
Q 08How did French administrator de Quinssy respond when a Royal Navy frigate arrived at Mahe in 1794?
He negotiated 'neutral' status rather than fight
The islands stayed nominally French until Britain took Isle de France in 1810; the French planters were then allowed to keep their land.
Q 09Seychelles became independent from the United Kingdom in which year?
1976
James Mancham was the first president; the 1970s islands were 'a playground for film stars and the international jet set'.
Q 10Who seized power in a 1977 coup and ruled Seychelles as a one-party strongman until 1993?
France-Albert Rene
He was prime minister at the time and stepped down only in 2004 in favour of James Michel.
Q 11Mike Hoare's 1981 mercenaries tried to enter Seychelles disguised as what?
Holidaying rugby players
A gun battle broke out at the airport and most of the 43 South Africans escaped on a hijacked Air India plane.
Q 12Which country's navy sailed into the capital's port in 1986 to avert a coup, in Operation Flowers are Blooming?
India
Defence minister Ogilvy Berlouis had plotted against the president; the frigate Vindhyagiri answered his call.
Q 13Wavel Ramkalawan, elected in 2020 as the first opposition president since 1977, had what profession?
Anglican priest
He beat Danny Faure 54.9 to 43.5 percent, ending 43 years of rule by one party.
Q 21How many official languages does Seychelles have?
Three
French, English and Seychellois Creole; the creole is related to those of Mauritius and Reunion.
Q 22Seychelles' flag, adopted in 1996, is unique for what design?
Five oblique bands fanning out from one corner
Blue, yellow, red, white and green take the colours of the two main political parties; it is the third flag since independence.
Q 23What is Seychelles' currency?
The Seychellois rupee
It was unpegged from a currency basket and floated in 2008 to attract foreign investment.
Q 14Roughly what share of Seychelles' territory is set aside for conservation?
42 percent
It ranked first of 172 countries on the 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index with a perfect 10.
Q 15Aldabra atoll, a UNESCO site, is home to how many giant tortoises?
About 150,000
Pirates and sailors ate them almost to extinction between 1500 and the mid-1800s; today they survive only on the atoll.
Q 16Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll after which Pacific island?
Kiritimati
A scientific outcry, the 'Aldabra Affair', stopped a planned military base and led to its protection.
Q 17The coco de mer palm, which grows wild on only two islands, is famous for producing what?
The world's heaviest seed
The 'love nut' can weigh 25 to 45 kilograms; its suggestive shape earned it the nickname.
Q 18The Vallee de Mai, a World Heritage Site of coco de mer palms, is on which island?
Praslin
It is Seychelles' second-largest island and also home to the Seychelles black parrot.
Q 19Which strange, ancient plant found in only a few spots on Mahe is a genus all of its own?
The jellyfish tree
Some 70 of the granitic islands' 268 flowering plants are endemic; the crab genus Seychellum is unique to them too.
Q 20What is the most widely spoken native language of Seychelles?
Seychellois Creole
About 91 percent speak the French-based creole; English and French are co-official and business is done in English.
Q 24Which industry, launched by the 1971 airport opening, employs three in ten Seychellois?
Tourism
Agriculture, once the plantation mainstay, now employs about 3 percent.
Q 25Which slave-era dance was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2021?
Moutya
Danced to drums at beach bazaars, it blends folk rhythms with Kenyan benga; sega and kontredans are the other favourites.
Q 26According to the 2022 census, what share of Seychellois are Catholic?
About 61 percent
Anglicans make up 5 percent; the population descends from African, French, Indian and Chinese immigrants, since no one lived there before.
Q 27Seychelles is divided into how many administrative regions?
26
Eight form Greater Victoria, 14 cover rural Mahe, two divide Praslin, one covers La Digue and one the Outer Islands.
Q 28In 2014 Seychelles had the world's highest rate of what, at 799 per 100,000 people?
Incarceration
That meant just 735 actual prisoners; the rate had fallen to 287 per 100,000 by 2022.
Q 29Seychelles has been a key participant in fighting piracy committed mainly by whom?
Somali pirates
Ex-president Michel said piracy cost 4 percent of GDP in lost boats, fishing and tourism.
Q 30Which mountain, in the national park of the same name on Mahe, is the highest peak in Seychelles?
Morne Seychellois
Rainfall on the mountain slopes reaches 3,600 mm a year against 2,900 mm in the capital.