Singapore

The Republic of Singapore is a country in the continent of Asia at the southern end of the Malay peninsula. It is a member of ASEAN. 4.4 million people live in Singapore, and many of them (76%) are Chinese. In Sanskrit, an old Indian language, "Singapore" means "Lion city". The important languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. Most Singaporeans speak English. Singapore is located 137km (85 miles) north of the Equator.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Holidays
4 Currency
5 Transportation and tourism
6 External links

[edit] History

Singapore got its name from 'Singa Pura' which means City of Lion. There are many version of how the name is derived. One popular legend has it that an Indonesian prince called Parameswara landed on Temasek(Singapore's old name) and sighted a Lion which is called 'Singa'in Malay. Thus he gave the island a new name, 'Singapura'.

Singapore was set up as a British trading town in 1819 by Thomas Stamford Raffles, and became an important town in the Malay Archipelago. The country was given colony rank in 1867. The Japanese attacked Singapore in late 1941, and took control of the colony on 15 February 1942 and renamed it Syonan-to (pronounced as Sho-nan-to), meaning Light of the South, during the rule. People of Singapore went through hard times during the Japanese rule until the surrender in September 1945 back to the British. The hard times during the World War II made the people think that the British were not as powerful as before.

In 1963 Singapore joined Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form the new nation of Malaysia. Malaysia is a country with many races. Among the races, the Malays have special benefits. For example, the Malays can get university education more easily than other races. Most people in Singapore are Chinese. Singapore wanted equality (equal treatment) for all the people of Malaysia. This caused arguments between the state government of Singapore and the federal government of Malaysia. Singapore separated from Malaysia and became independent (on its own) on August 9 1965.

At first, many people thought Singapore would not be able to survive on its own. However, the people of Singapore wanted to make their new country better. Today, Singapore is doing very well economically.

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Holidays

[edit] Currency

Singapore's currency is the Singapore dollar. The short name for the Singapore dollar is SGD.

[edit] Transportation and tourism

Singapore has a railway system known as the Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore). It also has taxi companies like Comfort Cabs, Silver Cab, SMRT Taxis, CityCab and Premier Taxi.