Singapore

Singapore (Malay: Singapura; Chinese: 新加坡, Xīnjiāpō; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர், Ciŋkappūr), officially the Republic of Singapore (Malay: Republik Singapura; Chinese: 新加坡共和国, Xīnjiāpō Gònghéguó; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு, Ciŋkappūr Kudiyarasu), is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometers (85 miles) north of the Equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At 704.0 km², it is the smallest country in Southeast Asia.

The main island was a fishing village sparsely populated by indigenous Malays and Orang Lauts when it was colonized by the British East India Company in 1819. The British utilized its position as a tactical trading outpost along the spice route.[1] Occupied by the Japanese Empire during World War II, it reverted to British rule in 1945 and was later part of the merger which established Malaysia in 1963. Two years later, it was expelled due to ideological differences with the UMNO ruling party.

Since gaining independence, Singapore has seen its standard of living rise dramatically. Foreign investment and government-led island-wide industrialization have created a modern economy based on electronics and manufacturing, featuring entrepôt and financial trade centering around the country's strategic location. The island-state has achieved Asian Tiger status after four decades of intense and open capitalist industrialization. In terms of GDP per capita, Singapore is the 17th wealthiest country in the world.[2] The geographically small nation has a foreign reserve of S$212 billion (US$139 billion).[3] In terms of quality of life, The Economist (2005) ranked Singapore highest in Asia and 11th in the world.[4]

The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore established the city-state's political system as a representative democracy while the country has official United Nations' recognition as a parliamentary republic. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959.