Singapore, Republic of, independent city-state in South East Asia, comprising one major island and 59 small adjacent islets, located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Singapore Island, the major island, is separated from Malaysia to the north by the narrow Johor Strait. On the south, it is separated from the Riau archipelago of Indonesia by Singapore Strait, an important shipping channel linking the Indian Ocean to the west with the South China Sea on the east. The city of Singapore is at the south-eastern end of the island; it is one of the most important port cities and commercial centres of South East Asia. The total area of the republic is 640 sq km (247 sq mi).

Population
The population of Singapore is ethnically diverse and consists principally of Chinese (about 76 per cent), Malays (15 per cent), and Indians (7 per cent). Virtually all inhabitants are descended from immigrants to the area who arrived after the foundation of the city of Singapore in 1819 and whose racial composition reflects the geographical trading patterns of the British Empire. The Republic of Singapore has been distinguished by harmonious racial coexistence.

Population Characteristics
Singapore has a population (2003 official estimate) of 4,608,000. The overall population density is 7,118 people per sq km. The majority of the population is concentrated on the southern part of the island. The low population growth rate of 3,42 per cent (2003) is achieved partly through a comprehensive birth control policy.

Religion in Singapore reflects ethnic divisions. Of the Chinese population, 68 per cent (54 per cent of the overall population) practises various combinations of Buddhism, Daoism, and the philosophical creed of Confucianism; and 14 per cent practises Christianity, mostly Roman Catholicism. The Malay population is 98 per cent Muslim. Of the Indian population, 53 per cent practises Hinduism, 26 per cent practises Islam, 13 per cent Christianity, and 7 per cent Sikhism, Jainism, or other creeds. There are also small groups of Zoroastrians and Jews.

The Republic of Singapore has four official languages - English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. At least eight other dialects of the Chinese language are in use, most of them mutually unintelligible. English is the language of administration and education.

Currency and Banking
The monetary unit of Singapore is the Singapore dollar of 100 cents (1.79 Singapore dollars equal US$1; 2001). The Monetary Authority of Singapore acts as the central bank in all respects save issue of currency, which is conducted by the Board of Commissioners of Currency. Singapore is very important as a global banking and financial centre, financial and business services accounting for over 28 per cent of GDP in 1994. The largest local bank is the Development Bank of Singapore; there is 130 commercial banks and 78 merchant banks operating in Singapore. Foreign banks account for over 60 per cent of total banking assets. The Singapore Stock Exchange is an important dealing centre for Asian currencies, offering broadly cheaper rates than its near neighbour in Tokyo.

Commerce and Trade
Singapore is the world's busiest port and has extensive dock facilities along Keppel Harbour on the southern coast. Much of its trade involves the transhipment of goods produced in the region. In 2001 annual imports cost US$116 billion while exports earned US$122 billion. Singapore's principal trading partners include the Malaysia, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand. Foreign exchange reserves, at US$76,900 million in 1997, are the highest per capita in the world. Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange revenue for Singapore. In 1995 over 7.1 million tourists visited Singapore (excluding visitors from Malaysia), and tourist receipts in 1994 totalled over US$7,000 million.

Government
Singapore is governed under a constitution of 1959, instituted at the culmination of its autonomous colonial development and since amended, especially in 1965 when Singapore became fully independent and assumed a republican constitution.

Executive and Legislature The head of state of the Republic of Singapore is a president, elected to a six-year term. The president used to be elected by parliament, but by a 1991 constitutional amendment, the president is now elected directly by the people, with increased powers. The prime minister, appointed by the president, is head of government and in practice enjoys more power than the president. Legislative power is vested in a one-house parliament, which in 1997 included 83 popularly elected members. In addition to elected members, the parliament may also contain up to 6 members nominated by the president and up to 6 members appointed from opposition political parties. The purpose of the nominated and appointed members is to ensure parliament represents a wide range of views. Nominated members are chosen from distinguished professionals or public servants in the general public. All members of parliament serve five-year terms.

Political Parties
The People's Action Party (PAP) has been the dominant political party since Singapore became independent and exercises a commanding role in national life, promulgating an ideology of economic growth, national self-confidence, and social discipline. Other parties currently represented in parliament are the Singapore Democratic Party and the Workers' Party.

S. R. Nathan became the sixth president of Singapore when he was sworn in on September 1, 1999. Nathan was returned unopposed without an election when the election committee ruled on August 18 that the two other candidates did not meet the criteria for the certificate of eligibility-candidates must have proven financial and executive experience in government or industry. A former intelligence chief, Nathan has served as Singapore's high commissioner to Malaysia and as ambassador to the United States, and is the protégé of senior minister Lee Kuan Yew, a former prime minister who remains strongly influential in Singaporean politics. Opposition politicians expressed dismay at the government's decision not to hold an election, arguing that Singaporeans should have been allowed to vote even on a single government-appointed candidate. Nathan succeeds Ong Teng Cheong, Singapore's first popularly elected president, who declined to run for a second term due to opposition within the government at his attempts to clearly define an independent role for the presidency. In response to the latter debate, Lee recently declared that the presidency was largely a ceremonial post.

Judiciary
The highest judicial body in the Republic of Singapore is the Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Criminal Appeal. The Chief Justice and other judges are appointed by the president. Subordinate courts include district courts, magistrates' courts, a juvenile court, a coroners' court, and a small claims tribunal.

History
It is believed that Singapore was a trading centre in the Malay kingdom of Sri Vijaya until the 14th century, when title passed to the kingdom of Majapahit. It was claimed in the 15th century by the Malacca (Melaka) sultanate under Tun Perak.

European Colonization
The modern city was founded in 1819 on the site of a fishing village by the British colonial administrator Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, one of the first to see the location's potential as a trading base, and deeded to the British East India Company in 1824 by the sultan of Johor. In 1826 Singapore was incorporated into the colony of the Straits Settlements. Its advantageous location on the narrow passage between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea and its free-port status soon turned Singapore into a major commercial centre, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The population grew through British-supported emigration, with Chinese becoming a majority in Singapore over Malays and Indians. In 1921 Britain designated the island its principal naval base in East Asia and undertook extensive military construction.

During World War II, Singapore was captured and occupied by Japanese forces in February 1942 in a week-long campaign that followed their conquest of British Malaya, despite its supposed status as the impregnable fortress of the British Empire in the Far East. As the British retreated, they only partially destroyed the causeway that linked Singapore with the Malay peninsula. Thus the invaders had easy access to the great port; however, important installations, including the world's largest floating dry dock, were destroyed to deny them to the Japanese. Anti-Japanese resistance by Singaporeans, including such notable heroes as Lim Bo Seng, was met with stern repression. On September 6, 1945, the city was liberated by British troops. The following year Singapore was made a separate Crown Colony from Malaya. In 1955 responsibility for domestic policy passed to the locally elected ministers and legislative assembly, and on June 3, 1959, Singapore became a self-governing state in the Commonwealth of Nations. On September 16, 1963, Singapore, Malaya, North Borneo (renamed Sabah), and Sarawak united to form Malaysia.

The Republic
In 1965 Singapore separated from Malaysia, owing to differences with the federal government, and became a sovereign state, remaining in the Commonwealth and becoming a member of the UN. In December of that year the island was proclaimed a republic. Inche Yusof bin Ishak, head of state since 1959, became the first president. His successors were Benjamin Henry Sheares who held the office from 1971 until his death in 1981, and C. V. Devan Nair, who was elected in 1981.

Fearing Communist subversion, Lee was a staunch supporter of US policies in South East Asia and in August 1967 made Singapore a founder member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). In 1971, after the final withdrawal of British troops from Singapore, he led Singapore into a defence alliance with Australia, Britain, Malaysia, and New Zealand. After the end of the Vietnam War he adopted a more conciliatory attitude towards the Communist regimes in the area, finally extending diplomatic recognition to China in 1990. Nair resigned the presidency in 1985 and was replaced by Wee Kim Wee. Lee resigned in 1990 and designated Goh Chok Tong as his successor, retaining a position as senior minister in the government.

The 1990s
In 1991 the government began the explicit promotion through the educational system of values based on Confucianism, emphasizing society over the individual and seen in contrast to "Western values". Goh's government won 77 out of 81 seats in the 1991 parliamentary elections, despite the lowest PAP vote tally since 1968. Goh polled strongly in a by-election in December 1992, and was elected to succeed Lee Kuan Yew as Secretary-General of the PAP, strengthening his authority. Ong Teng Cheong of the PAP became the country's first directly elected president on September 2, 1993, polling 57.4 per cent of the vote against Chua Kim Yeoh, a retired civil servant who polled 40.4 per cent.

In February 1995 the disclosure of vast losses on unsupervised tradings made by a Singapore-based derivatives trader caused the collapse of his employer Barings, the oldest merchant banking group in the United Kingdom. Relations between Singapore and the Philippines were thrown into crisis by the execution on March 17, 1995, of a Filipino maid convicted of murdering a fellow domestic worker and a child in Singapore; the Singaporean authorities rejected pleas from the Philippines for a stay of execution. In December 1995 a Singapore court sentenced Nick Leeson, the trader responsible for the collapse of Barings, to six years in prison for deception.

The general election of January 1997 brought an improved performance for the ruling PAP, which won 81 out of 83 parliamentary seats; outside commentaries on the election remarked on government policies such as the threatened withdrawal of state housing-renovation funding to areas returning opposition candidates.

The flight of the opposition Workers' Party candidate Tang Liang Hong to Malaysia after the election, citing death threats and facing defamation threats from several figures including Lee Kuan Yew, led to a worsening of relations between the two countries in March 1997 after Lee criticized Tang's refuge, the Malaysian state of Johor. A Singapore court ordered Tang to pay a record S$8.08 million (US$5.65 million) in libel damages to Goh and other senior PAP members in April 1997, but in September another defamation trial against a Workers' Party official led to a considerable reduction in the libel damages asked for by Goh and criticism of the handling of the case. In November the Singapore Court of Appeal halved the damages Tang was liable to pay.

Singapore escaped significant damage from the financial crisis during 1997. In February 1998 the government announced liberalizing financial reforms to improve Singapore's competitiveness; it also banned political parties from access to television time and from making promotional videos.