Singapore, Republic of, independent
city-state in Southeast Asia, comprising 1 main island
and 50 adjacent islands off the southern tip of the Malay
Peninsula. The major island is separated from Malaysia
on the north by the narrow Johor Strait and is connected
by a causeway to the Malaysian city of Johor Baharu. On
the south, the main island is separated from Indonesia's
Riau Archipelago by the Singapore Strait, an important
shipping channel linking the Indian Ocean to the west
with the South China Sea on the east.
Singapore is densely
populated, with most of the country's people concentrated
in the south central portion of the island, where the
central business district and main port are located. About
three-fourths of the people are Chinese, but there are
significant Malay and Indian minorities.
Singapore contained
just a few fishing settlements and a small trading port
when the islands became part of the United Kingdom's colonial
empire in the 1820s. Britain developed Singapore into
a major international trade center, and the local Malay
population soon swelled with immigrants from China and
India. Since becoming an independent republic in 1965,
multiethnic Singapore has maintained political stability
and high economic growth. As a result, Singapore is now
Southeast Asia's most important seaport, financial center,
and manufacturing hub, and its citizens enjoy one of the
world's highest standards of living.
-- quoted from encata.msn.com
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