Lion City

Republic of Singapore Republik Singapura  (Malay) 新加坡共和国 (Chinese) சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு (Tamil)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "Majulah Singapura" (Malay) "Onward, Singapore"
Anthem: Majulah Singapura "Onward, Singapore"
Location of  Singapore  (red)
Capital	Singapore (city-state) 1°17′N 103°50′E / 1.283°N 103.833°E / 1.283; 103.833
Largest PA	Bedok 1°19′24.97″N 103°55′38.43″E / 1.3236028°N 103.9273417°E / 1.3236028; 103.9273417
Official languages	English Malay Huayu Mandarin Tamil
Official scripts	Roman (Latin) Simplified Chinese Tamil
Ethnic groups	74.3% Chinese 13.3% Malay 9.1% Indian 3.3% others
Religion	33.2% Buddhism 18.8% Christianity 18.5% no religion 14.0% Islam 10.0% Taoism and folk religion 5.0% Hinduism 0.6% Others
Demonym	Singaporean
Government	Unitary dominant-party parliamentary republic
• President	Halimah Yacob
• Prime Minister	Lee Hsien Loong
Legislature	Parliament
Area
• Total	719.1 km2 (277.6 sq mi) (176th)
Population
• 2016 estimate	5,607,300 (113th)
• Density	7,797/km2 (20,194.1/sq mi) (3rd)
GDP (PPP)	2017 estimate
• Total	$508.449 billion (39th)
• Per capita	$90,724 (3rd)
GDP (nominal)	2017 estimate
• Total	$311.282 billion (41st)
• Per capita	$55,252 (10th)
Gini (2014)	46.4 high · 30th
HDI (2015)	0.925 very high · 5th
Currency	Singapore dollar (SGD)
Time zone	SST (UTC+8)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Drives on the	left
Calling code	+65
ISO 3166 code	SG
Internet TLD	.sg .新加坡 .சிங்கப்பூர்

Singapore (/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the "Lion City", the "Garden City" or the "Little Red Dot", is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, just south of the Malay Peninsula across the Straits of Johor, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of one main island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km²) and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.

Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore in 1819 as a trading post of the East India Company, but after its collapse and the eventual establishment of the British Raj, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but separated two years later over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign nation in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce.