Geographic Information
Singapore, is an island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula,
137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, in Southeast Asia. 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.
Tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons – Northeastern monsoon (December to March) and Southwestern monsoon (June to September); inter-monsoon – frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms
Currency
The currency of Singapore is the Singapore Dollar, represented by the symbol S$ or the ISO abbreviation SGD. The central bank is the Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS), responsible for issuing the currency.
Government:
Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. Singapore subsequently became one of the world’s most prosperous countries in the world with strong international trading links (its business competitiveness, education scores, airport, airline, and port consistentlty rank among the top three in the world) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe, Singapore has firmly established itself as one of the most affluent and safest countries around.
Singapore is a parliamentary republic.
Legal System:
based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Economy:
Singapore has a highly developed and successful free-market economy. It enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP higher than that of most developed countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in consumer electronics, information technology products, pharmaceuticals, and on a growing financial services sector. Real GDP growth averaged 6.8% between 2004 and 2008. After a contraction of -6.8% in the 4th quarter of 2009, Singapore claimed the title of fastest-growing economy in the world, with GDP growth of 17.9% in the first half of 2010. Singapore has attracted major investments in pharmaceuticals and medical technology production and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia’s financial and high-tech hub.
GDP ( purchasing power parity)
$ 243.2 billion ( 2009 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 46
Singapore is the world’s fourth leading financial center and a cosmopolitan world city, playing a key role in international trade and finance.
Singapore is also a popular travel destination, contributing significantly to Singapore’s overall economy. To attract even more tourists, the government decided to legalize gambling and to allow two casino resorts.
Both resorts- Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa- were completed in 2010 and have been highly successful since opening their doors. To compete with regional rivals like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, the government has enhanced the city area by lighting up the civic and commercial buildings. Food has also been promoted as an attraction for tourists with the Singapore Food Festival every July to celebrate Singapore’s diverse cuisine. In 2008 Singapore hosted the first Formula One night race and has been holding this event ever since.
Furthermore, Singapore is promoting itself as a medical tourism destination: about 200,000 foreigners seek medical care in the country each year, and Singapore projects one million foreign patients by 2012, generating USD 3 billion in revenue.
Population:
Singapore has a long history of immigration. It has a diverse population of about 4.7 million (July 2010 est.) people made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, other Asians and Caucasians. 42% of the population are foreigners who work and study there. Foreigners make up 50% of the service sector. It is the second most densely populated country in the world after Monaco. AT Kearney’s Globalization Index names Singapore the most globalized country in the world.
The Economist Intelligence Unit in its “Quality of Life Index” ranks Singapore #1 in Asia and #11 overall in the world. This city-state possesses the world’s ninth largest foreign reserves. It’s armed forces are highly technologically advanced and well-equipped.
Median age: 39.6 years
Male: 39.1 years
Female: 40 years
Religions:
Buddhist 42.5%; Muslim 14.9%; Taoist 8.5%; Hindu 4%; Catholic 4.8%; other Christian 9.8%; other 0.7%; none 14.8% (2000 census).
Languages:
Mandarin (official) 35%; English (official) 23%; Malay (official) 14.1%; Hokkien 11.4%; Cantonese 5.7%; Teochew 4.9%; Tamil (official) 3.2%; other Chinese dialects 1.8%; other 0.9% (2000 census).