Facts about Singapore
After two decades of a family planning policy, Singapore is now facing the threat of an aging population with declining birth rates.
The rest are made up of Arab Singaporeans, Thais, Japanese, Europeans, and the Eurasian Singaporean community.
Singapore's laws derive from British and British Indian laws, and include many elements of English common law.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit quality-of-life index, Singapore has the highest standard of living in Asia, and is ranked 11th in the world, and is the world's 22nd wealthiest country.
Singapore has mutual defense pacts with several countries, most notably the Five Power Defense Arrangements.
Singapore students took first place in the 1995, 1999, and 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.
Amnesty International has criticized Singapore for having the highest execution rate in the world per capita.
Singapore is the second most densely populated independent country in the world.
The government of Singapore has been careful to maintain ethnic harmony after racial riots erupted in the 1960s.
A network of 81 airlines connected Singapore to 179 cities in 57 countries in 2005.
The highest point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, with a height of 538 feet (166 meters).
The politics of Singapore takes place in a framework of a parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
During the Malay-Portugal wars in 1613, Portuguese troops set fire to Singapore.
The name Singapore is derived from the Malay language words singa (lion) and pura (city).
The Johor-Singapore Causeway connects Singapore to Malaysia in the north, crossing the Tebrau Straits; and Malaysia-Singapore Second Link is a bridge from western Singapore to Johor.
The site of ancient port cities and a possession of several empires, over the past 40 years Singapore has transformed itself from a poor, politically volatile state into an economic powerhouse.
About 83 percent of Singaporeans live in public housing provided by the Housing and Development Board.
The Economist Intelligence Unit listed Singapore as a country with a hybrid system of democratic and authoritarian elements.
Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP), per capita, is equal to that of the major European countries.
Singapore has become a center for modern architecture as older buildings are cleared away to make space for newer, larger buildings along the coast of Marina Bay and Raffles Place.
The Gurkha Contingent, which is part of the Singapore Police Force, is a counter-terrorist force.
Transparency International has consistently rated Singapore as the least-corrupt country in Asia.
Part XII of the Constitution allows the Parliament of Singapore to enact legislation designed to prevent subversion.
Along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, Singapore's fast-paced industrialization earned it a place as one of the four original "East Asian Tigers."
Singapore has a Little India and a Chinatown, formed under the Raffles Plan to segregate immigrants.
Some foreign analysts and several opposition parties have argued that Singapore is a de facto one-party state.
Singapore's defense resources have been used in United Nations peacekeeping assignments in Kosovo, Kuwait, and East Timor.
Laws restricting the freedom of speech are justified by claims that they are intended to prohibit speech that may breed ill will or cause disharmony within Singapore's multiracial, multi-religious society.
Singapore, which consists of 63 islands, is slightly more than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC.
Singapore has won only one Olympic medal, a silver medal at the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang.
Improvised music virtually always follows some rules or conventions and even "fully composed" includes some freely chosen material.
Britain made Singapore a crown colony in 1867, and later an entrepot town, due to its strategic location along the busy shipping routes connecting Europe to China.
Singapore is an Asian transportation hub, and transportation accounts for over 10 percent of Singaporean GDP.
About 83 percent of Singapore's population lives in housing estates constructed by the Housing and Development Board.
Singapore has a highly developed market-based economy, and is a developed nation.
Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate with no distinct seasons, characterized by uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity, and abundant rainfall.
During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Malaya and attacked Singapore.
Singapore evolved from a developing nation to a global city with first-world status by the end of the twentieth century.
Singaporean Malays, the indigenous native group of the country, constitute 13.9 percent.
The Port of Singapore was the world's busiest port in 2005 with 1.15 billion gross tons handled.
Indian Singaporeans are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9 percent, consisting of several groups — Indian Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils, Malayalees, Punjabis and Bengalis.
The Japanese renamed Singapore Sh?nan and occupied it until the British repossessed the island on September 12, 1945, after the Japanese surrender.
Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries.
About 23 percent of Singapore's land area consists of forest and nature reserves.
In 1998 and 2004, the Singapore national football team became the champions of the Tiger Cup, the premier football competition in Southeast Asia.
Singapore's Changi Airport acts as a stopover point for the "Kangaroo route" between Australasia and Europe.
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island nation and the smallest country in Southeast Asia.
Singapore became a self-governing state in 1959 with Yusof bin Ishak as its first head of state and Lee Kuan Yew from the People's Action Party as its first prime minister.
Singapore is also the fourth largest foreign exchange trading center in the world after London, New York City and Tokyo.
Racial harmony has been emphasized in all aspects of society, including the Singaporean education system, military, and housing.
Between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Singapore was a part of the Sultanate of Johore.
A variety of parks are maintained, such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
The government sponsors the Singapore Sports School which opened in 2004, combining a reduced curriculum with professional training in each student's preferred sport.
Following a 1962 merger referendum, Singapore joined Malaysia along with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak in September 1963, but was expelled after heated ideological conflict with the federal government in Kuala Lumpur.
In 2003, ten-year-old Megan Zheng became the first Singaporean actress to win the Taipei Film Festival Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer with her role in Jack Neo's movie Homerun.
Junior college is a precursor for entry into the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Management University.
Singapore introduced a goods and services tax (GST) with an initial rate of 3 percent on April 1, 1994.