The Republic of Singapore (Chinese: 新加坡共和国, Pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Gònghéguó, Malay: Republik Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு, Ciŋakappūr Kudiyarasu), is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of the Indonesian Riau Islands. Its coordinates are 1°17.583′N 103°51.333′E, just 137 km north of the Equator. The name Singapore was derived from the Malay word singa (lion), which itself is derived from the Sanskrit word सिंह siMha of the same meaning, and the Sanskrit word पुर pura (city) .

Singapore developed from a small Malay fishing village to become a multicultural, major global city with cosmopolitan ideals. It has attracted controversy for some of its policies it has taken to achieve its development since independence in 1965. Throughout recorded history, it has been possessed by multiple countries and empires and changed hands many times, including being in the possession of Melaka and the Sultanate of Johore in ancient history, the British Empire in the colonial era, Japanese Empire in World War II and Malaysia after merger, until its independence. After independence, government-led rapid industrialisation and open policies inviting foreign investments stimulated rapid economic growth and Singapore is presently regarded as a developed nation.

Presently, Singapore can be politically analysed as a democratic socialist country that has adopted a welfare system, although de facto it has a dominant-party system. The Government perceives Singapore as multiracial, and champions it as an ideal. The majority of the population are ethnic Chinese, with Malays, ethnic Indians and Eurasians constituting a significant minority. Singapore has little natural resources, so its economy relies on exports of electronics and manufacturing from her port. More than 90% of Singapore's population lives in housing estates constructed by the Housing Development Board and nearly half utilises the public transport system daily. As a result of public transport and environmental initiatives by government ministries, Singapore's pollutive industries are mostly isolated to heavy industry located offshore in Jurong Island.

History

The first records of Singapore's existence are in Chinese texts from the 3rd century. The island was an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire and originally bore the Javanese name Temasek. Temasek rose to become a significant trading city, but subsequently declined. There are few remnants of old Temasek in Singapore other than archaeological evidence.