Singapore Overview
The smallest state in Southeast Asia is the city and island state of Singapore. 5,709,000 people live in an area of 710.2 square kilometers. The Republic of Singapore, whose capital is the city of Singapore, has a very high population density of 6558.1 inhabitants per km². In comparison, Germany has a population density of 230.1 people per square kilometer. Singapore became independent from Malaysia on August 9, 1965. Halima Yacob has been the head of state since 2017 as President.
The name Singapore comes from the Sanskrit and means lion city (“Singha” means “lion” and “Pura” means “city”).
Limited area of Singapore: More land is needed!
Land reclamation is very important to Singapore. Singapore is hardly as big as Hamburg, so earth material is extracted from other countries, from the sea floor and from its own mountains. The land reclamation measures are crowned with success, since Singapore has grown over 100 km² since the 1960s. It is planned to expand the land mass to 800 square kilometers by 2030. This acute lack of space is also the reason why Singapore has the highest cost of living in the world. In addition to the already high population, Singapore is also one of the most visited cities in the world with around 11 million annual tourists. In addition to Hong Kong, the city-state of Singapore is the most important financial center and trade hub in Asia.
Surrounded by Malaysia and Indonesia, separated by 2 ocean roads
Singapore is south of Malaysia and north of Indonesia. Johor Street separates Singapore from Malaysia and the Street from Singapore separates it from Indonesia. However, there are connections to Malaysia. The Johor-Singapore Causeway, an artificial dam in the north connects Singapore with the city of Johor Bahru. In the west there is a bridge called Second Link.
At 176 meters, Bukit Timah Hill is the highest hill in Singapore. From October to February the average temperatures are 28 degrees, a bit lower and it rains more.
The religions and population in Singapore
Buddhism as the most represented religion in Singapore
Buddhism is the most common religion in Singapore. 42.5 percent belong to this religion. 14.9 percent belong to Islam. 14.6 percent are Christians, 8.5 percent are Taoists and 4 percent are Hindus.
Anyone who has now counted in will find that 15.5 percent is still missing, that is attributable to the population who do not feel that they belong to any religion (14.8 percent) and these people who belong to the smaller religious communities (0.7 percent). The Unification Church and Jehovah’s Witnesses are prohibited in Singapore.
Multi-ethnic population of Singapore
The almost 8 million inhabitants of the city-state of Singapore are largely composed of Chinese, Malays and Indians. According to current UN figures, life expectancy in Singapore is 84.5 years for women and 80.1 years for men, among the highest in the world.
Although English is mainly used for communication in business and schools, Chinese, Malay and Tamil are also official languages of Singapore.
Since the state in Singapore attaches great importance to the harmonious coexistence of the different ethnic groups, various housing construction projects try to mix the groups. While the various groups often remain among themselves, for example with regard to the choice of school or spouse, there are signs of cultural mixing in language, lifestyle and cuisine. Singlish is thus a widely used variant of the language, composed of English and parts of all other official languages.
Global City Singapore
Singapore is one of the most exciting cities in the world. Singapore, for example, was one of the so-called Tieger States and rose from an emerging country to an economy primarily based on the service sector, including exports and imports as defined on Paulsourcing. In just a few decades, Singapore became one of the richest cities in the world.
Singapore is also interesting due to the diverse population, which gives the city-state unique liveliness on the one hand, and its international importance on the other. The city-state is also home to transnational corporations, and Singapore’s banking and financial markets are of global importance.
