| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 1,000 (1999)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mont Fleuri[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Seychellois Creole;Chinese (Mandarin,Cantonese,Hakka &Hokkien) not widely spoken,[2]English,French | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sino-Mauritians[3] |
Sino-Seychellois areoverseas Chinese who reside inSeychelles. In 1999, their population was estimated at 1,000 individuals, making them one ofAfrica's smaller Chinese communities.[1]
The first Chinese immigrants to Seychelles arrived from Mauritius in 1886.[2] Until around 1940, it was common for aSino-Mauritian to bring his relatives over from China to Mauritius for a period of apprenticeship in his business; after they had gained sufficient familiarity with commercial practises and life in a colonial society, he would send them onwards with letters of introduction, lending them his own capital to start up businesses in neighbouring regions, including Seychelles.[3]
Like in other overseas Chinese communities, rivalry betweenCantonese- andHakka-speakers was a common feature of their social life. The two separate groups lived in different areas and even refused to marry each other, instead preferring to marry local women of African descent. They started out working onvanilla plantations, but quickly turned to shopkeeping, transport, and fishing.[2]
In 1945, Richard Man-Cham, the father of future Prime MinisterJames Mancham, requested government permission to open a Chinese school. The government responded coldly to the idea.[2] Formal Chinese language education would not be established in Seychelles until 2007, when thePeople's Republic of China sent a teacher to work with the adult and distance education department of Seychelles' Ministry of Education.[4] Today, most Sino-Seychellois do not speak Chinese, though they mayunderstand it.[2]