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Singapore
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Republic of Singapore
President: S. R. Nathan (1999)
Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong
(2004)
Current government officials
Land area: 241 sq mi (624 sq km); total
area: 267 sq mi (692.7 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 4,553,009
(growth rate: 1.3%); birth rate: 9.2/1000; infant mortality rate:
2.3/1000; life expectancy: 81.8; density per sq mi: 18,898
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Singapore, 3,438,600
Monetary unit: Singapore dollar
Languages:
Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%,
Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other
Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000)
Ethnicity/race:
Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, other
1.4% (2000)
Religions:
Buddhist 43%, Islam 15%, Taoist 9%, Hindu 4%,
Catholic 5%, other Christian 10%, none 15% (2000)
Literacy rate: 93% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $228.1billion; per capita $49,700. Real growth rate:
7.7%. Inflation: 2.1%. Unemployment: 2.1%.
Arable land: 2%. Agriculture: rubber, copra, fruit,
orchids, vegetables; poultry, eggs; fish, ornamental fish. Labor
force: 2.28 million (Sept. 2005 est.); manufacturing 18%,
construction 6%, transportation and communication 11%, financial,
business, and other services 39%, other 26% (2003).
Industries: electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil
drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber
products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore
platform construction, life sciences, entrepôt trade. Natural
resources: fish, deepwater ports. Exports: $204.8 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment, mineral fuels,
chemicals, foodstuffs. Imports: $188.3 billion (2005 est.):
machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs.
Major trading partners: Malaysia, U.S., Hong Kong, China,
Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea (2004).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 1.95 million (2000); mobile cellular: 2.74 million (2000).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 15, shortwave 5 (1998).
Radios: 2.6 million (2000). Television broadcast stations:
6 (2000). Televisions: 1.33 million (1997). Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): 9 (2000). Internet users: 2.31
million (2002).
Transportation: Railways: total: 38.6
km. Highways: total: 3,066 km; paved: 3,066 km (including 150
km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (1999). Ports and harbors:
Singapore. Airports: 9 (2002).
International disputes: disputes with
Malaysia over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's
land reclamation works on Johor, maritime boundaries, and
Singapore-occupied Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Putih persist -
parties agree to ICJ arbitration on island dispute within three
years.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
The Republic of Singapore consists of the main island of Singapore, off
the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula between the South China Sea and
the Indian Ocean, and 58 nearby islands.
Government
Parliamentary republic.
History
Inhabitants of the Malaysian peninsula and the island of Singapore
first migrated to the area between 2500 and 1500
B.C. (see Malaysia). British and Dutch interest in the
region grew with the spice trade, and the trading post of Singapore was
founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. It was made a separate Crown
colony of Britain in 1946, when the former colony of the Straits
Settlements was dissolved. The other two settlements on the
peninsula—Penang and Malacca—became part of the Union of Malaya, and the
small island of Labuan was transferred to North Borneo. The Cocos (or
Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island were transferred to Australia in
1955 and in 1958, respectively.
Singapore attained full internal self-government in 1959, and Lee Kwan
Yew, an economic visionary with an authoritarian streak, took the helm as
prime minister. On Sept. 16, 1963, Singapore joined Malaya, Sabah (North
Borneo), and Sarawak in the Federation of Malaysia. It withdrew from the
federation on Aug. 9, 1965, and a month later proclaimed itself a
republic.
Under Lee, Singapore developed into one of the cleanest, safest, and
most economically prosperous cities in Asia. However, Singapore's strict
rules of civil obedience also drew criticism from those who said the
nation's prosperity was achieved at the expense of individual
freedoms.
S. R. Nathan was declared president without an election when he was
certified as the only candidate eligible to run in 1999 elections. In Aug.
2004, Lee Hsien Loong became the country's third prime minister since
Singapore gained independence from Britain in 1965. Lee faced his first
electoral challenge in May 2006. His People's Action Party (PAP) won 82
out of 84 seats in parliamentary elections.
See also Encyclopedia: Singapore
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Singapore.
Department of Statistics www.singstat.gov.sg/ .
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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