The Granitic Seychelles are the islands in the Seychelles

Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....

 which lie in central position on the Seychelles Bank and are composed of granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 rock. They make up the majority of the Inner Islands, which in addition include the coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 islands along of the rim of the Seychelles Bank, namely Bird Island

Bird Island, Seychelles

Bird Island is the northernmost island in the Seychelles archipelago, 60 miles from Mahe. The 0.70 km² Coral island is known for its birdlife, including sooty terns, fairy terns and common noddies, and for hawksbill and green turtles. It is now a private resort with 24 bungalows...

 and Denis Island

Denis Island

Denis Island is the second northeasternmost Island in the Seychelles. It is 60 miles north of Mahé and lies at the northern edge of the Seychelles bank, along with the nearby Bird Island, which is the northernmost Seychelles island. The 1.31 km² coral island was named after the French explorer...

.

There are mafic

Mafic

Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or rock that is rich in magnesium and iron; the term is a portmanteau of the words "magnesium" and "ferric". Most mafic minerals are dark in color and the relative density is greater than 3. Common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine,...

 xenolith

Xenolith

A xenolith is a rock fragment which becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and hardening. In geology, the term xenolith is almost exclusively used to describe inclusions in igneous rock during magma emplacement and eruption...

 intrusions in the granite in some areas. The Granitic Seychelles are fragments of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana

Gondwana

In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...

, and have been separated from other continents for 75 million years. The Granitic Seychelles form the northernmost part of the Mascarene Plateau

Mascarene Plateau

The Mascarene Plateau is an submarine plateau in the Indian Ocean, north and east of Madagascar. The plateau extends approximately 2000 km, from the Seychelles in the north to Réunion in the south. The plateau covers an area of over 115,000 km² of shallow water, with depths ranging from...

. Mahé is the largest and tallest island in the Seychelles, at 145 square kilometers and up to 905 meters elevation.

The Granitic Seychelles contrast with the Coralline Seychelles or Outer Islands, several island groups made up of low coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 islands with dry, infertile soils.

The Granitic Seychelles are home to tropical moist forests, with several endemic species, including the Coco de Mer

Coco de mer

The Coco de Mer , the sole member of the genus Lodoicea, is a palm endemic to the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. It formerly also was found on St Pierre, Chauve-Souris and Ile Ronde in the Seychelles group, but has become extinct on these islands...

 (Lodoicea maldivica), and the Jellyfish Tree

Jellyfish tree

The jellyfish tree is a critically endangered and unusual tree endemic to the island of Mahé, of the Seychelles. It is the sole member of the genus Medusagyne...

 (Medusagyne oppositifolia).

There are 42 granitic islands, in descending order of size: Mahé, Praslin

Praslin

Praslin is the second largest island of the Seychelles, lying 44 km north east of Mahé. Praslin has a population of around 6,500 people and comprises two administrative districts; Baie Sainte Anne and Grand' Anse . The main settlements are the Baie Ste Anne, Anse Volbert and Grand' Anse.It was...

, Silhouette

Silhouette Island

Silhouette Island lies 20 km northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles. It is the third largest island in the Seychelles. It has an area of 20 km² and has a population of 135, mostly workers on the island. The main settlement is La Passe, where there is a hotel for visitors to Silhouette...

, La Digue

La Digue

La Digue is the fourth largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. It has a population of about 2,000 people, who mostly live in the west coast villages of La Passe and La Réunion. It has an area of 10 km²...

, Curieuse

Curieuse Island

Curieuse Island is a small granitic island in the Seychelles close to the north coast of the island of Praslin. Curieuse is notable for its bare red earth intermingled with the unique Coco de Mer palms, one of the cultural icons of the Seychelles, only being present on the two islands.- History...

, Félicité

Felicite Island

Félicité Island is a small heavy forested granitic island 4 km east of La Digue in the Seychelles. It is 2.68 km² and today is a resort that can handle up to 20 guests.The highest point on the island is 213 meters....

, Frégate

Fregate Island

Frégate Island or sometimes Frigate Island is a private island and is the easternmost of the granitic Inner Islands of the Seychelles. It is only and is primarily known as a secluded, private luxury resort and its Anse Victorin beach was voted "The World's Best Beach" by The Times. It was named...

, Ste. Anne

Ste. Anne Island

Sainte Anne Island is the largest of six islands in Ste Anne Marine National Park of the Seychelles. These six islands are part of the Mont Fleuri District of the Seychelles. It is 4 km off the east coast of Mahé and has abundant tropical vegetation...

, North

North Island, Seychelles

North Island is a small granitic island in the Seychelles, 5 km north of Silhouette Island. Recently it has been developed as a private resort with 11 villas for guests, aimed at the eco-tourism market...

, Cerf

Cerf Island

Cerf Island lies 4 km off the north coast of Mahé in the Seychelles. Cerf Island measures more than long and almost wide, it reaches a height of . The island is surrounded by a coral reef and the geology is granitic....

, Marianne

Marianne Island

Marianne Island is a small granitic island of the Seychelles. It is located 3.8 km ESE of Félecité Island. The island was a former coconut plantation, and on the western side of the island is a long beach. The southern tip of Marianne is known as a world-class diving location...

, Grand Sœur, Thérèse

Thérèse Island

Therese Island is a small islet off the western coast of Mahé in the Seychelles. It has white sand beaches, 700 m with numerous coconut palms. It has two rocky peaks which resemble a giant's staircase, the tallest, Thérèse Peak, being 160 metres above sea level. There is a reef protecting the...

, Aride

Aride Island

Aride Island is the northernmost granitic island in the Seychelles and is 10 km north of Praslin. It is 68 hectares in area and is a nature reserve. Aride is leased and managed by the Island Conservation Society of Seychelles. The only human inhabitants are the reserve's staff; currently four...

, Conception

Conception Island, Seychelles

Conception Island is a small island in the Seychelles 2 km west of Mahé. Conception contained a coconut plantation until the mid 1970s; today it is uninhabited. Conception Island, along with its sister island Thérèse Island, is part of Port Glaud district of Mahé, the main island of the...

, Petite Sœur, Cousin

Cousin Island

Cousin Island is a small granitic island of the Seychelles, lying 2 km SSW of Praslin. It is a nature reserve protected under Seychelles law as a Special Reserve and is run by Nature Seychelles, a national non-profit organization and Partner of BirdLife International .Until 1968, Cousin...

, Cousine

Cousine Island

Cousine Island is a small granitic island in the Seychelles 6 km west of Praslin Island. It is a combination luxury resort and since 1992 a nature preserve....

, Long, Récif, Round (Praslin), Anonyme

Anonyme Island

Anonyme Island is a small granitic island in the Seychelles, 700 meters off the east coast of Mahé. Anonyme is named after a ship of the same name.It has abundant plant life including ironwood and banyan trees...

, Mamelles, Moyenne

Moyenne Island

Moyenne Island is a small island in the Ste Anne Marine National Park off the north coast of Mahé, Seychelles. Since the 1970s it has been a flora and fauna reserve. From 1915 until the 1970s, the island was abandoned until its purchase by Brendon Grimshaw, an English newspaper editor...

, Ile aux Vaches Marines, L'Islette, Beacon (Ile Sèche), Cachée, Cocos, Round (Mahé), L'Ilot Frégate, Booby, Chauve Souris (Mahé), Chauve Souris (Praslin), Ile La Fouche, Hodoul, L'Ilot, Rat, Souris, St. Pierre (Praslin), Zavé, Harrison Rocks (Grand Rocher).