Country Profile: Singapore
![]() |
OFFICIAL NAME
|
![]() |
Republic of Singapore |
---|---|---|
GEOGRAPHY
|
Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia | |
AREA
|
683 sq. km / 264 sq. miles | |
COMPARATIVE
|
a little larger than half the size of Rhode Island | |
POPULATION
|
4,000,000 | |
CAPITAL
|
N/A | |
LITERACY
|
99.5% (age 15+ and can read and write) | |
LANGUAGE
|
There are four official languages: 1. Malay: Mostly restricted to the Malay community. 2. Tamil: Tamil is the main Indian language, though Malayalam and Hindi are also spoken. 3. English: English is widespread. Children are taught in English at school but also learn their mother tongue to make sure they don't lose contact with their traditions. The only communication problem English-speakers are likely to have in Singapore is with older Singaporeans who did not learn English at school, though trying to understand the unique patois called Singlish - which uses a clipped form of English mixed with Malay and Hokkien words - can be taxing. 4. C hinese (Mandarin): C hinese dialects, such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese and Hakka, are still widely spoken. The government's long-standing campaign to promote Mandarin has been very successful and increasing numbers of C hinese now speak Mandarin at home. |
|
RELIGION
|
Buddhist - 42% |
|
POLITICS
|
Democracy with an elected President | |
INCOME
|
Per capita income US$ 36,979 per year | |
CURRENCY
|
Singapore Dollar (S$) | |
TIME ZONE
|
GMT/UTC +8 | |
SOURCES
|
Statistics provided by a variety of sources, but mostly the U.S. State Department, the U.N. Statistics Division, and BBC News. |
Prayercast: A Prayer for Singapore
Country Profile
Portals
- Government Website
- Singapore Infomap - Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
News: Country-Specific
- SingaporeNews.com
- SingaporeNews.net
- Kidon Media Link - links to newspapers
News: Asia General
- Channel News Asia (all Asia)
- World News Asia (all Asia)
Travel
- Singapore Tourism Board
- Uniquely Singapore - another site of Singapore Tourism Board
- Lonely Planet/Singapore
- U.S. State Department Travel/Singapore consular page
Map
<< Back to Country Profiles