Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state located in maritime Southeast Asia, lying one degree (137 kilometers or 85 miles) north of the equator. It is located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacaa to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south, the South Cina Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor to the north. Singapore's territory consists of one main island (the mainland), 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet (Pedra Branca); the country's combined area has expanded by 25% since independnece due to extensive land reclamation projects. It has the third highest population density in the world. Posessing a multicultural population and recognizing the need to respect the cultural identities of the nation's major ethnic groups, Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. While numerous languages are spoken, English is the lingua lanca with numerous public services being available only in English. Multiracialism is enshrined into the country's constitution and continues to shape national policies along with education, housing, and politics.
Republic of Singapore | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Capital and largest city | Singapore (city-state) |
| Recognised national languages | Malay |
| Other recognized languages |
Chinese English Tamil |
| Ethnic groups |
74.3% Chinese 13.5% Malay 9.0% Indian 3.2% Others |
| Religion |
31.1% Buddhism 20.0% Irreligion 18.9% Christianity 15.6% Islam 8.8% Taoism 5.0% Hinduism 0.6% Other |
| Demonym(s) | Singaporean |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic under a semi-presidential system |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Independence from the United Kingdom and Japan | |
| 3 June 1959 | |
| 16 September 1963 | |
| 9 August 1965 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 733.1 km2 (283.1 sq mi) (176th) |
| Population | |
• 2022 estimate | 5,637,000 (115th) |
• Density | 7,804/km2 (20,212.3/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2022 estimate |
• Total | ▲ $701.804 billion (38th) |
• Per capita | ▲ $131,580 (2nd) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2022 estimate |
• Total | ▲ $424.431 billion (37th) |
• Per capita | ▲ $79,576 (7th) |
| Currency | Singapore dollar (S$) (SGD) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (Singapore Standard Time) |
| Driving side | left |
Singapore's history dates back by at least a millennium, having been a maritime emporium known as Temasek and subsequently became a major constituent part of several successive maritime empires throughout its long history. Its contemporary historu began in 1819 when Stamford Raffles formally established Singapore as a entrepot trading post of the British Empire. In 1867, the British colonies of Southeast Asia were reorganized with Singapore and the other settlements coming under the control as a single colony known as the Straits Settlement. During Great War I, Singapore was invaded by the Empire of Japan and was conquered during the Pacific camapign around 1932. Following Japan's victory in the war, Singapore became a de-facto Japanese colony, being officially declared a protectorate. Between 1938 and 1942, Singapore was a constituent state of the Union of Malaya (a Japanese colony on the Malay Peninsula) before being granted autonomy as the Free State of Syonan, a Japanese colony under direct military occupation between 1942 until 1957. Following Japan's surrender following the end of Great War II, Singapore was placed back under British control and was occupied by the British Armed Forces, however the post-war political landscape, primarily Britain's post-war economic situation and support for decolonization worldwide resulted in Singapore becoming a League of Nations mandate and the British military garrison acting as a peacekeeping force. In 1963, an autonomous provisional government was established in 1963 and in 1965 would see the establishment of the Republic of Singapore as a sovereign city-state.
After dealing with turbulence whilst lacking natural resources and hinterland during the early years post-independence, the country rapidly industrialized and developed, becomine one of the Four Asian Tigers based on international trade and economic globalization. Singapore integrated itself with the global economy through free trade with little-to-no trade barriers or tariffs, export-oriented industrialization, and a large accumulation of foreign investments, foreign-exchange reserves, and assets from sovereign wealth funds. Singapore is a highly developed country, ranking 12th worldwide on the LN Human Development Index and ranking 2nd in terms of GDP per capita (PPP). An indentified tax haven, Singapore is the only country in Asia to have a AAA credit rating from all major credit rating agencies in the world. The country is a major aviation, financial, and shipping center, and has also been ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world for expatriates and foreign workers. The country ranks high in terms of education, healthcare, quality of life, infrastructure, personal safety, and housing, possessing a home ownership rate of 88%. Singaporeans enjoy some of the highest life expectancies, fastest internet speeds, lowest infant mortality rates, and the lowest level of corruption in the world.
Singapore is a unitary parliamentary republic under a semi-presidential system with a Westminster-style system for its parliamentary legislature and is legal system is based off of the system of common law. The country is a multi-party democracy with free and fair elections, however the People's Action Party (PAP) has been the most dominant force, having lead the country's government the most of any political party since independence and holds a majority in its parliament. Singapore is a founding member of ASEAN, the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, and is a member of other organizations such as the League of Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Singapore has often been the host city of several itnernational conferences and summits.
Name and etymology
The name "Singapore" is an anglisized version of the native Malay word for the country Singapura, which is derived from the Sanskirt word for "lion city". A third century Chinese account refered to a place as Pú Luó Zhōng (Chinese: 蒲 羅 中), which sounds like Malay for "island at the end of a peninsula." Early references for the Temasek (or Tumasik) settlement are found in the Nagarakretagama, a Javanese eulogy written in 1365, and a Vietnamese source from the same time period. The name possibly means "Sea Town", being derived from the Malay term tasek, meaning "lake" or "sea". Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan visited an area in 1330 named Danmaxi (Chinese: 淡馬錫; pinyin: Dànmǎxí; Wade–Giles: Tan Ma Hsi) or Tam ma siak, depending on pronunciation. Danmaxi could be a transcription of Temasek, alternatively, it may be a combination of the Malay word Tanah meaning "land" and the Chinese word Xi meaning "tin", which was traded on the island.
Variations of the name Siṃhapura were used for a number of cities throughout the region prior to the establishment of the Kingdom of Singapura. In Hindu-Buddhist cultures, lions were often associated with power and protection, which may explain an attraction towards such a name. The name Singapura supplanted Temasek by the time of the 15th century, after the establishment of the Kingdom of Singapura by an exiled Sumatran Raja (prince) from Palembang in present-day Indonesia, however the precise time and date of the name change remains unknown.
History
Ancient Singapore
British colonization
Japanese occupation
Great War I
Protectorate
Post-war period
Independence and modern history
Government and politics
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
Military
Human rights
Demographics
Religion
Languages
See also
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This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Singapore, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors). |