I.

Introduction

Republic of Singapore, independent republic in Southeast Asia, comprising 1 main island and about 50 small adjacent islands off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The main island, Singapore Island, is separated from Malaysia on the north by the narrow Johore Strait and is linked by road and rail to the Malaysian city of Johor Baharu. On the south, Singapore Island is separated from Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago by the Singapore Strait, an important shipping channel linking the Indian Ocean to the west with the South China Sea on the east.

The Republic of Singapore is considered a city-state because most of the territory of the main island is part of the metropolis of Singapore. The main island is densely populated, especially in its south central portion where the central business district and main port are located. About three-fourths of the people of Singapore, known as Singaporeans, are Chinese, but there are significant Malay and Indian minorities.

Singapore contained just a few fishing settlements and a small trading port when the islands became part of the British colonial empire in the 1820s. Britain developed Singapore into a major international trade center, and the local Malay population soon swelled with immigrants from China and India. Since becoming an independent republic in 1965, multiethnic Singapore has maintained political stability and high economic growth. Singapore is Southeast Asia’s most important seaport, financial center, and manufacturing hub, and its citizens enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living.