Republic of Singapore

The Republic of Singapore is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia.  Singapore is made up of a main island and 62 other islands, located between Malaysia and Indonesia. As both a city and a country it is small, about  3,5 times bigger than Washington, DC.  It is home to almost 5,8 million people.  That's a lot of people in a small area.


Singapore started out as a British trading colony in 1819.  In 1963 it became part of Malaysia but was kicked out two years later and became an independent country.

As one of the Asian Tiger economies, the county is a global economic power.  It is a financial and transportation hub for all of Asia.  It ranks 11th in the world on the UN Human Development Index so it receives high marks in education, healthcare, life expectancy, safety and quality of life.

Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic.  The country is known to be impeccably clean and enjoys a low crime rate.  Since caning is legal it goes without saying that it is tough on crime.

The Singapore Dollar

Plus there are the fines.  Chewing gum is banned and throwing a cigarette butt on the street is a $300 fine.



Singapore is a diverse country with four official languages - English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.  Most people are bilingual with English and another national language.

Here's a short video on Singapore that I found on YouTube.

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