Singapore

At the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula where the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean meet, 140 kilometres north of the equator lies a small island with an approximate area of 573 square kilometers, 42 kilometres long and 23 kilometres across its widest points. We call this island, Singapore. Surrounding this island are 50 smaller islands which are also part of Singapore, bringing the total land area of Singapore to approximately 639 square kilometers.

Historically, the city-state was known as Temasek, or sea town. The name Singapore, which means "lion city" in Sanskrit, came about around the 13^th century.

On January 29^th, 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles, an official of the British East India Company, and his assistant, Major William Farquhar landed at Singapore to set up a trading post. Raffles sought a base in the south of the Malay Peninsula, to attract trade. Singapore at that time belonged to the Johor sultanate. A treaty was later signed allowing the British to build a settlement on the main island of Singapore. Sir Stamford Raffles is therefore thought of as the founder of modern-day Singapore.

On August 9^th, 1965, Singapore officially became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Today, the country has a total population of around 3.7 million people, and is therefore considered one of the densest populated countries in the world. Most of the Singaporeans are descendants of migrants from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India who made Singapore their home in the 19^th and 20^th century. With more than three quarters of the population Chinese, the Chinese are therefore the dominant ethnic group in the country, followed by the Malays which make up about 12 per cent, and the Indians 8 per cent. Although for historical reasons, Malay is Singapore’s national language, English, Chinese, and Tamil, together with Malay are recognized nationally as official languages. The main language used in schools and colleges, and the government is English, as the government in its early days realized the importance of English in world commerce and industry.

Modern-day Singapore has many accolades it can be proud of.
To name but a few:

• Changi International Airport is one of the best airports in the world.
• Singapore Airlines is considered one of the world’s best airlines for service.
• Port of Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world today.

We hope you have gained an insight to Singapore. Should you wish to know more about our country, The Government of Singapore homepage and The Singaporean.com homepage will be able to provide you with additional information.