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Gerneral InformationSingapore (Malay: Singapura; Chinese: 新加坡, Xīnjiāpō; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர், Ciŋkappūr), officially the Republic of Singapore (Malay: Republik Singapura; Chinese: 新加坡共和国; Pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Gònghéguó; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு, Ciŋkappūr Kudiyarasu), is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometers (85 miles) north of the Equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At 704.0 km², it is the smallest country in Southeast Asia.The main island was a fishing village sparsely populated by indigenous Malays and Orang Lauts when it was colonized by the British East India Company in 1819. The British utilized its position as a tactical trading outpost along the spice route.[1] Occupied by the Japanese Empire during World War II, it reverted to British rule in 1945 and was later part of the merger which established Malaysia in 1963. Two years later, it was expelled due to ideological differences. Since gaining independence, Singapore has seen its standard of living rise dramatically. Foreign investment and government-led island-wide industrialization have created a modern economy based on electronics and manufacturing, featuring entrepôt and financial trade centering around the country's strategic location. The island-state has achieved Asian Tiger status after four decades of intense and open capitalist industrialization. In terms of GDP per capita, Singapore is the 18th wealthiest country in the world. The geographically small nation has a foreign reserve of S$212 billion (US$139 billion).[3] In terms of quality of life, The Economist (2005) ranked Singapore highest in Asia and 11th in the world.[4] Despite wealth and a high standard of living, Singapore also has the highest per capita execution rate in the world at 13.57 per 100,000 residents, compared to just 4.65 in Saudi Arabia and 2.01 in China. The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore established the city-state's political system as a representative democracy while the country has official United Nations' recognition as a parliamentary republic. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959.
Facts about the Travel
Geography63 islands, including the main island itself. There are two connections to Johor — the man-made Johor-Singapore Causeway in the north, and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's many smaller islands. The highest natural point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill (166 metres, 538 ft).The urban area used only to be concentrated on the south of Singapore, around the mouth of the Singapore River and what is now the Downtown Core, while the rest of the land was undeveloped tropical rainforest or used for agriculture. Since the 1960s, the government has constructed new residential towns in outlying areas, resulting in an entirely built-up urban landscape. The Urban Redevelopment Authority is the government agency responsible for urban planning. Singapore has an on-going land reclamation project with earth obtained from its own hills, the sea-bed, and neighbouring countries. As a result, Singapore's land area grew from 581.5 square kilometres (224.5 sq mi) in the 1960s to 699.3 square kilometres (269.1 sq mi) today, and may grow by another 100 square kilometres (38.6 sq mi) by 2030.[21] Many of the smaller islands have been expanded and joined together through land reclamation in order to form larger, more functional islands, such as in the case of Jurong Island. Under the Köppen climate classification system, Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate with no distinct seasons. Its climate is characterised by uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity, and abundant rainfall. Temperatures range from 22°C to 34 °C (72°–93°F). On average, the relative humidity is around 90% in the morning and 60% in the afternoon. During prolonged heavy rain, relative humidity often reaches 100%.[22] The lowest and highest temperatures recorded in its maritime history are 18.4 °C (65.1 °F) and 37.8 °C (100.0 °F) respectively. The highest wind speed recorded is 150 km/h on 26 May 2007. June and July are the hottest months, while November and December make up the wetter monsoon season. From August to October, there is often haze, sometimes severe enough to prompt public health warnings, due to bushfires in neighbouring Indonesia. Singapore does not observe daylight savings time or a summer time zone change. The length of the day is nearly constant year round due to the country's location near the equator.  Singapore's Central Business Dist. Without natural freshwater rivers and lakes, the primary domestic source of water supply in Singapore is rainfall, collected in reservoirs or catchment areas. Rainfall supplies approximately 50% of Singapore's water; the remainder is imported from Malaysia or obtained from recycled water facilities and desalination plants. More NEWater and desalination plants are being built or proposed to reduce reliance on foreign supply. EconomySingapore has a highly developed market-based economy, which historically revolves around extended entrepot trade. The economy depends heavily on exports refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing. Manufacturing constitutes 28% of Singapore's GDP in 2005.[citation needed] The manufacturing industry is well-diversified into electronics, petroleum refining, chemicals, mechanical engineering and biomedical sciences manufacturing. Singapore is the busiest port in the world in terms of tonnage shipped. [25]Singapore is the world's fourth largest foreign exchange trading centre after London, New York City and Tokyo. If the economy does well, it may overtake Tokyo as the third largest foreign exchange centre by 2008.[citation needed] Along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, Singapore is one of the Four Asian Tigers. Singapore has been rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world, with thousands of foreign expatriates working in multi-national corporations. The city-state also employs thousands of foreign workers from around the world. In 2001, a global recession and slump in the technology sector caused the GDP to contract by 2.2%. The Economic Review Committee (ERC), set up in December 2001, recommended several policy changes with a view to revitalising the economy. Singapore has since recovered from the recession, largely due to improvements in the world economy; the Singaporean economy itself grew by 8.3% in 2004 and 6.4% in 2005.[28] The per capita GDP in 2005 was US$26,833 and the unemployment rate was 2.7% in 2006, with 173,000 new jobs being created in 2006, a record high. The economy grew by 7.9% in 2006. In the first quarter of Year 2007, the economy grew by 6.1%. As the economy grew at a much faster pace than expected, the government raised the economic growth forecast to 5%-7% instead of the initial 4.5%-6.5% for the full year. [32] Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong also had said in an interview in April 2007 that Singapore's economy is expected to grow by at least 5% for the next 5 years. Singapore introduced a Goods and Services Tax (GST) with an initial rate of 3% on 1 April 1994 substantially increasing government revenue by $1.6 billion and stabilising government finances. The taxable GST was increased to 4% in 2003 and to 5% in 2004. The GST will be further increased to 7% on 1st July 2007. To help Singaporeans cope with the GST tax increase, the government has introduced the GST Offset Package (similar to the Progress Package given out last year) on 14 May 2007. Each citizen would be able to receive an amount of between S$150- S$1,000, depending on the individual salary. Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. About 9.7 million tourists visited Singapore in 2006.[36] The Singaporean government hopes to have at least 17 million visitor arrivals by 2015. The Orchard Road district is the centre of shopping hub in Singapore. To attract more tourists, the government decided in 2005 to legalise gambling and to allow two Integrated Resorts to be developed at Marina South and Sentosa.[37] Other than the Integrated Resort, about 15 new developments are coming up, which include the Singapore Flyer, which would be the largest ferris wheel in the world, the Gardens by the Bay and a 280-metre Double Helix Bridge connecting tourist attractions in and around Marina Bay. Cuisine has been heavily promoted as an attraction for tourists, with the Singapore Food Festival in July organized annually to celebrate Singapore's cuisine. In 2008, Formula One racing will return when the Singapore Grand Prix will resume, having not been held since 1972. The circuit will be the first night-time race in Formula One's history. To compete with its many rivals such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore has announced that the city would be transformed into a more vibrant and exciting place with more buzz by lighting up the city completely. The purpose of this is to attract more tourists.  Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay CultureSingapore is a mixture of an indigenous Malay population with a third generation Chinese majority, as well as Indian and Arab immigrants with some intermarriages. (Note: In reality, there are very few people in Singapore who can claim to be truly indigenous to the island of Singapore. Other than people who can trace their ancestry to the Orang Laut, the peoples of Singapore {including the Malays} are basically descendants of immigrants who came to Singapore to take advantage of the economic opportunities made available by the founding of modern Singapore by Raffles.) There also exist significant Eurasian and Peranakan (known also as 'Straits Chinese') communities. Singapore has also achieved a significant degree of cultural diffusion. One example is in Singaporean cuisine.Since the 1990s, the government has been striving to promote Singapore as a centre for arts and culture, and to transform the country into a cosmopolitan 'gateway between the East and West'. The highlight of these efforts was the construction of Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, a centre for performing arts that opened on October 12, 2002. Singapore is a multi-religious country, the roots of which can be traced to its strategic location; after its declaration as a port, a wide variety of nationalities and ethnicities from places as far as Arabia immigrated to Singapore. More than 40% of the Singaporeans adhere to Mahayana Buddhism, the main faith of the Chinese population of Singapore. Other Chinese are followers of Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity, including Catholics. Christians constitute about 14% of the population of Singapore. Most Malays are Muslims, who constitute about 15% of the population, while most Indians are Hindus, constituting 7%. There is also a sizable number of Muslims and Sikhs in the Indian population.  Singapore Botanical Gardens ArchitectureThe architecture of Singapore is varied, reflecting the ethnic build-up of the country.Singapore has several ethnic neighbourhoods, including Chinatown and Little India. These were formed under the Raffles Plan to segregate the immigrants, but now have a more diverse patronage. Many places of worship were also constructed during the colonial era. Sri Mariamman Temple, the Masjid Jamae Mosque and the Church of Gregory the Illuminator are among those that were built during the colonial period. Work is now underway to preserve these religious sites as National Monuments of Singapore. Due to the lack of available space, few historical buildings remain in the centre of the Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore - the Fullerton Hotel and the previously-moved Lau Pa Sat being some exceptions. However, just outside of Raffles Place, and throughout the rest of the downtown core, there is a large scattering of pre-WWII buildings - some going back nearly as far as Raffles, as with the Empress Place Building, built in 1827. Many beautiful classical buildings were destroyed during the post-war decades, up until the 1990s, when things completely changed and the government started very strict programs to conserve the many remaining buildings and whole areas that are of historic and aesthetic value Past the shopping malls are streets lined with old but newly-painted shophouses.[citation needed] Many other such areas have been gazetted as historic districts. Information can be found at the URA Centre in Maxwell Road, where there are exhibits and several models of the island and its architecture. Singapore has also become a centre for modern, or more correctly, postmodern architecture. Historically, the demand for high-end buildings has been in and around the Central Business District (CBD). After decades of development, the CBD has become an area with many tall office buildings. These buildings comprise the skyline along the coast of Marina Bay and Raffles Place, a famous tourist attraction in Singapore. Plans for tall buildings must be reviewed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore [43] No building in Singapore may be taller than 280 metres. The three tallest buildings in Singapore, namely Republic Plaza, UOB Plaza One and OUB Centre, are all 280 metres in height. In addition, some interesting signs of Singapore's colonial past remain in the form of "Black and White Houses". These large houses are situated further away from the CBD and were built in the early to mid 19th century. These homes were built to house the British generals and governors when Britain occupied the country. Later, they became home to many Japanese generals after the fall of Singapore during World War II. TransportationInternationalSingapore is a major Asian transportation hub, strategically lying on the midpoints of certain sea and air trade routes. The transportation industry comprises over 10% of Singapore's GDP despite an increasingly diversified economy.[citation needed] The Port of Singapore, managed by port operators PSA International and Jurong Port, was the world's busiest port in 2005 in terms of shipping tonnage handled, at 1.15 billion gross tons, and in terms of containerised traffic, at 23.2 million Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). It was also the world's second busiest in terms of cargo tonnage, coming behind Shanghai with 423 million tons handled. In addition, the Port is the world's busiest for transhipment traffic and the world's biggest ship refuelling center. Singapore is an aviation center, acting as a stopover point for the 'Kangaroo route' between Australasia and Europe. Singapore Changi Airport has a network of 81 airlines connecting Singapore to 179 cities in 57 countries (2005). It has been consistently rated as one of the best international airports by numerous international travel magazines. It was rated as the world's best airport in 2006 by Skytrax, defeating its long time rival, Hong Kong International Airport. The airport currently has two passenger terminals, with a third under construction, and there are plans for a fourth terminal. The national carrier is Singapore Airlines (SIA). Singapore is linked to Johor, Malaysia via the Johor-Singapore Causeway and the Tuas Second Link, as well as a railway operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu of Malaysia, with its southern terminus at Tanjong Pagar railway station. Frequent ferry service to several nearby Indonesian ports also exists. DomesticThe domestic transport infrastructure has a well-connected island-wide road transport system which includes a network of expressways. The public road system is served by the nation's bus service and a number of licensed taxi-operating companies. Since 1987, the heavy rail passenger Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) metro system has been in operation. MRT is later augmented by the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) light rail system, which provides service to housing estates. The EZ-Link system allows contactless smartcards to serve as stored value tickets for use in the public transport systems. More than 2.8 million people use the bus network daily, while more than 1.3 million people use either the LRT or MRT as part of their daily routine.[citation needed] Approximately 900,000 people use the taxi services daily..[citation needed] Private vehicle use in the Central Area is discouraged by tolls implemented during hours of heavy road traffic, through an Electronic Road Pricing system. Private vehicle ownership is discouraged using high vehicle taxes and imposing quotas on vehicle purchase. |
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