Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
A Malay trading port known as Temasek existed on the island of Singapore by the 14th century. The settlement changed hands several times in the ensuing centuries and was eventually burned in the 17th century, falling into obscurity. In 1819, the British founded modern Singapore as a trading colony on the same site and granted it full internal self-government for all matters except defense and foreign affairs in 1959. Singapore joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but was ousted two years later and became independent.
- Capital
- Singapore
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Population
- 6,080,545
- Area
- 719 sq km
- Location
- Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
- Climate
- tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - northeastern monsoon (December to March) and southwestern monsoon (Jun…
- Natural resources
- fish; deepwater ports
- Languages
- English (official) 48.3%; Mandarin (official) 29.9%; other Chinese dialects (includes Hokkien; Cantonese…
- Religions
- Buddhist 31.1%; Christian 18.9%; Muslim 15.6%; Taoist 8.8%…
- Independence
- 9 August 1965 (from Malaysian Federation)
- Administrative divisions
- no first-order administrative divisions; five community development councils: Central Singapore Development Council, Nor…
- Currency
- Singapore dollars (SGD)
- Export partners
- Hong Kong 13%; China 11%; USA 10%; Malaysia 9%…
- Import partners
- China 15%; Malaysia 11%; Taiwan 11%; USA 10%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain