Singapore

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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is highly urbanised but almost half of the country is covered in greenery. More land is being reclaimed for future development. Singapore is also known as Pulau Ujong, but the term is rarely used.

Singapore had been a part of various local empires (most notable is the British Empire) since it was first inhabited in the second century AD. Modern Singapore was founded as a trading post of the East India Company by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 with permission from the Sultanate of Johor. The British obtained full sovereignty over the island in 1824 and Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826.

Singapore was occupied by the Japanese in World War II and reverted to British rule after the war. It became internally self-governing in 1959. Singapore united with other former British territories to form Malaysia in 1963 after a merger referendum was held in 1962. and became a fully independent state two years later after separation from Malaysia.

Since then it has had a massive increase in wealth and is one of the Four Asian Tigers. The economy depends heavily on the industry and service sectors. Singapore is a world leader in several areas: It is the world's fourth-leading financial centre, the world's second-biggest casino gambling market, and the world's third-largest oil refining centre. The port of Singapore is one of the five busiest ports in the world, most notable for being the busiest transhipment port in the world. The country is home to more US dollar millionaire households per capita than any other country. The World Bank notes Singapore as the easiest place in the world to do business. The country has the world's third highest GDP PPP per capita of US$71,054, making Singapore the 3^rd wealthiest countries in the world.

Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party (PAP) has won every election since the British grant of internal self-government in 1959. The legal system of Singapore has its foundations in the English common law system, but modifications have been made to it over the years, such as the removal of trial by jury. The PAP's popular image is that of a strong, experienced and highly qualified government, backed by a skilled Civil Service and an education system with an emphasis on achievement and meritocracy; but it is perceived by some voters, opposition critics and international observers as being authoritarian and too restrictive on individual freedom.

Some 5.612 million people live in the country, of whom 3.439 million were born locally. Most are of Chinese, Malay or Indian descents. There are four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Singapore is also one of the five founding members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which was established on 8 August 1967, Singapore also hosts the APEC Secretariat, and is a member of the East Asia Summit, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations (UN).

Government

Map of Singapore being distributed into planning areas (PAs).

PAs in the Central Region

Expressways and Semi-expressways of Singapore

The following table consists of the appointments of Cabinet Ministers as of 15^th May 2024.

Position	Incumbent	Since
President	Tharman Shanmugaratnam	14th September 2023
Prime Minister	Lawrence Wong	15th May 2024
Deputy Prime Minister	Heng Swee Keat	1st May 2019
	Gan Kim Yong	15th May 2024
Senior Minister	Lee Hsien Loong	15th May 2024
	Teo Chee Hean	1st May 2019
Speaker of Parliament	Seah Kian Peng	2nd August 2023
Deputy Speaker of Parliament	Christopher De Souza	31st August 2020
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office	Maliki Osman	27th July 2020
	Indranee Rajah	1st May 2018
Minister for Communications & Information	Josephine Teo	15th May 2021
Minister for Culture, Community & Youth	Edwin Tong	27th July 2020
Minister for Defence	Ng Eng Hen	21st May 2011
Minister for Education	Chan Chun Sing	15th May 2021
	Maliki Osman (Second Minister)	27th July 2020
Minister for Finance	Lawrence Wong	15th May 2021
	Indranee Rajah (Second Minister)	1st May 2018
Minister for Foreign Affairs	Vivian Balakrishnan	1st October 2015
	Maliki Osman (Second Minister)	27th July 2020
Minister for Health	Ong Ye Kung	15th May 2021
	Masagos Zulkifli (Second Minister)	27th July 2020
Minister for Home Affairs	K. Shanmugam	1st October 2015
	Josephine Teo (Second Minister)	11th September 2017
Minister for Law	K. Shanmugam	1st May 2008
	Edwin Tong (Second Minister)	27st July 2020
Minister for Manpower	Tan See Leng	15th May 2021
Minister for National Development	Desmond Lee	27th July 2020
	Indranee Rajah (Second Minister)
Minister for Social & Family Development	Masagos Zulkifli	27th July 2020
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment	Grace Fu	27th July 2020
Minister for Trade & Industry	Gan Kim Yong	15th May 2021
	Tan See Leng (Second Minister)	27th July 2020
Minister for Transport	Chee Hong Tat	18th January 2024
Minister-in-charge of Muslims Affairs	Masagos Zulkifli	1st May 2018
Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations	Grace Fu	18th January 2024

Former territories

• Cocos Island: Sovereignty transferred to Australia on 23 November 1955.
• Christmas Island: Sovereignty transferred to Australia on 1 October 1958.

See also

• Arab Singaporean
• British Singapore
• Chinese Singaporean
• Indian Singaporean
• Malay Singaporean

Articles related to Singapore

• Singaporean culture
• Singaporean cuisine
• Singapore economic model
• Singlish

External links

• Wikipedia article