The Islands of the Seychelles Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Though probably known to people from the Middle East and Africa for over a millennium, the first recorded sighting of the Seychelles by Europeans came in 1502 when the expedition of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama indicated it on his maps of the region. The British made the first known landing just over one hundred years later. However, they were not permanently settled until the late 18th century, by which time the French had laid claim to the islands. In 1811 France surrendered the islands to Britain, formally ratified in the 1814 Treaty of Paris, and the British would remain in charge of the islands until the Seychelles gained independence in 1976.

Mahe, the largest of the islands, was named after Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, the administrator of the French territory of Mauritius, who sent explorers to find a staging post between Mauritius and India. More than 80% of the population of the Seychelles live on Mahe.

Praslin is the second largest island. Ecologically diverse with a range of endemic species, the 19th century British soldier and diplomat General Gordon believed it to be the Garden of Eden from the Bible.

Silhouette is the third largest island, named after Louis XV's minister of finance. Only 200 inhabitants occupy the island, almost all connected to the Hilton hotel established on the island.

Felicite was formerly a coconut plantation, it became uninhabited until a property developer from Singapore was given the right to develop a tourist resort there in 2007.

Two islands were named after ships in the French fleet. La Digue was first settled by exiles from Reunion after a rebellion there. Curieuse was a leper colony until 1965. It was taken over by the government in 1967 and declared a national park in 1979 to protect the wildlife there.

Fregate is home to Anse Victorin, which has been voted as "The World's Best Beach".

Saint Anne is the site of the first French settlement on Seychelles, in 1770.

North island was the site of the first European landing by the British in 1609. It was used as the location for Tracy Island on the "Thunderbirds" movie in 2004.

Marianne, Grand Soeur, Petite Soeur and Therese are uninhabited islands but are frequently visited by tourists for private stays or water sport activities.

Of the wrong answers, New Guinea is the world's second largest island with its western half part of Indonesia and its eastern half forming Papua New Guinea. Sumatra is another Indonesian island. Penang and Langkawi are islands in Malaysia, Phuket is in Thailand and Zanzibar is part of Tanzania.