Singapore

Republic of Singapore Chinese 新加坡共和国 Malay: Republik Singapura Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Majulah Singapura  (Malay) (English: "Onward, Singapore")
Anthem: Majulah Singapura (English: "Onward, Singapore")
Capital	Singapore[a] 1°17′N 103°50′E / 1.283°N 103.833°E / 1.283; 103.833
Official languages	English Chinese Malay Tamil
National language	Malay
Ethnic groups (2019)[2]	List of ethnicities 76% Chinese 15% Malay 7.5% Indian 1.5% other
Religion (2015)	List of religions 33.2% Buddhism 18.8% Christianity 18.5% No religion 14.0% Islam 10.0% Taoism and folk religion 5.0% Hinduism 0.6% other
Demonym(s)	Singaporean
Government	Unitary dominant-party parliamentary constitutional republic
• President	Tharman Shanmugaratnam
• Prime Minister	Lawrence Wong
• Chief Justice	Sundaresh Menon
• Parliament Speaker	Seah Kian Peng
Legislature	Parliament
Independence  from the United Kingdom and Malaysia
• Self-governance	3 June 1959
• Malaysia Agreement	16 September 1963
• Proclamation of Singapore	9 August 1965
• ASEAN Declaration	8 August 1967
Area
• Total	731.0 km2 (282.2 sq mi)[3] (176th)
Population
• 2019 estimate	5,703,600[b] (115th)
• Density	7,804/km2 (20,212.3/sq mi) (2nd)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$615.698 billion[5] (36th)
• Per capita	$107,604[5] (3rd)
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$391.875 billion[5] (31st)
• Per capita	$68,487[5] (7th)
Gini (2017)	45.9[6] medium
HDI (2019)	0.938[7] very high · 11th
Currency	Singapore dollar (S$) (SGD)
Time zone	UTC+8 (Singapore Standard Time)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Mains electricity	230 V–50 Hz
Driving side	left
Calling code	+65
ISO 3166 code	SG
Internet TLD	.sg
Website gov.sg

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign country as well as a city-state. It is an island state at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula in Asia, between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Singapore is about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator. About 5.70 million people live in Singapore. About 3.31 million are citizens. Most of them are ethnically Chinese, Malay, or Indian, as well as a smaller number of other Asians and Europeans.

Present-day Singapore was founded in 1819 by Stamford Raffles as a trading post of the British Empire. During the Second World War, Singapore was taken over by Japan in 1942, but returned to British control after Japan surrendered in 1945. Singapore started to govern itself in 1959, and in 1963 became part of the new federation of Malaysia, together with Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Political and social differences led to Singapore being removed from the federation two years later, then becoming an independent country on its own.

Most Singaporeans are bilingual.^[8] The symbolic national language of Singapore is Malay. Other official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin and Tamil.^[9] English is the language of choice because everyone in Singapore knows and uses it. It is the first language taught in schools and the language used by the government and in court. Students are also usually taught the language of their ethnicity. This means that the Chinese will learn Mandarin, Malays will learn Malay, and so on. Students can also choose to learn a third language in secondary school.

Singapore is also known as a "Garden City" or a "City in a Garden". This is because there are plants everywhere, making it look like a garden.^[10] Singapore has one of the highest standards of living in the world, with very good education, healthcare, housing, and very low corruption. It is also known for having many strict rules and punishments, including fines.^[11][12] This is why it is also sometimes jokingly called a "fine" city. The government says this has helped Singapore be a very safe country.^[13] Singapore is one of the founding members of ASEAN.

1. ↑ "Singapore". Retrieved 29 August 2019. The city, once a distinct entity, so came to dominate the island that the Republic of Singapore essentially became a city-state.
2. ↑ Population in Brief 2019
3. ↑ "Environment". Base. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
4. ↑ "Population and Population Structure". Singstat. Department of Statistics Singapore. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
6. ↑ "DISTRIBUTION OF FAMILY INCOME – GINI INDEX". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
7. ↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
8. ↑ "Language Programmes". Ministry of Education, Singapore. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
9. ↑ "Republic of Singapore Independence Act, 1997 revised edition". Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
10. ↑ "Our Garden City". National Parks Board, Singapore. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
11. ↑ Klein, Ezra (25 April 2017). "Is Singapore's "miracle" health care system the answer for America?". Vox. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
12. ↑ "What other countries can learn from Singapore's schools". The Economist. 30 August 2018. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
13. ↑ "A great place to live". edb.gov.sg. Retrieved 27 April 2021.