Singapore The Lion City

Singapore derives its name from the Malay words singa (lion) and pura (city) which is why it is also known as the Lion City. Folklore has it that Malay a prince named Sang Nila Utama saw a lion as the first living creature on the island and decided to name it Singapura as a result.

The Lion City was originally a British trading colony in 1819 and joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963; however, Singapore separated two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading Western European nations.

ENTRY REGULATIONS
All who enter Singapore require a passport valid for at least 6 months beyond date of departure. Visa is not required if visitors plan to stay no more than 14 days; most tourists are given a 14-day Social Visit Pass on arrival at Changi International Airport.

CLIMATE
Singapore’s climate is equatorial, warm and humid all year round with intermittent rains throughout the year.

LANGUAGE
Several languages are spoken in Singapore but majority speak Mandarin and English including Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Tamil and other Chinese dialects.

CURRENCY
The currency unit is the Singapore dollar (S$). Approximately S$1.50 = US$1

DOMESTIC TRANSPORT
Singapore’s Metro Rail Transit and the Light Rail Transit services serve domestics travel.
Air-conditioned taxis and buses regularly ply the city.

COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES
International Direct Dial Country Code = 65
Fixed Lines = 2,000,000
Mobile Cellular = 4,500,000

Singapore Telecommunications Limited SGX, commonly known as SingTel is Singapore's largest telecommunications company and the largest mobile network operator in Asia Pacific outside of the People's Republic of China. A former government monopoly privatized in 1992, SingTel divested its postal operation SingPost in 2003 and now concentrates on providing internet service provider, mobile phone and fixed line telephony services.

Other cellular service providers in Singapore are MobileOne, SingTel 1800 and Starhub.

Several prepaid calling card and phone card companies are available to call both to and from Singapore.

Article Source: http://www.travelarticlelibrary.com

Singapore Twitter

Singapore (Chinese: 新加坡; pinyin: Xīnjiāpō; Malay: Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர், Cingkappūr), officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At 710.2 km2 (274.2 sq mi), Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast Asia. This is substantially larger than Monaco and Vatican City, the only other surviving sovereign city-states.

Before European settlement, the island now known as Singapore was the site of a Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Singapore River. Several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people also lived along the nearby coast, rivers and on smaller islands. In 1819, the British East India Company, led by Sir Stamford Raffles, established a trading post on the island, which was used as a port along the spice route.[8] Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire, and the hub of British power in Southeast Asia.

During the Second World War, the British colony was occupied by the Japanese after the Battle of Singapore, which Winston Churchill called "Britain's greatest defeat". Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945, immediately after the war. Eighteen years later, in 1963, the city, having achieved independence from Britain, merged with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak to form Malaysia. However, the merger proved unsuccessful, and, less than two years later, it seceded from the federation and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations on August 9, 1965. Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on September 21 of that year.

Since independence, Singapore's standard of living has risen dramatically. Foreign direct investment and a state-led drive to industrialization based on plans drawn up by the Dutch economist Albert Winsemius have created a modern economy focused on industry, education and urban planning. Singapore is the 5th wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita. In December 2008, the foreign exchange reserves of this small island nation stood at around US$174.2billi The Singapore government, with approval from the President, announced in March 2009 that it would tap into their official reserves for the first time ever and withdraw some S$4.9 billion. The funds were then used as part of the S$20.5 billion resilience package unveiled by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 5 February 2009. As of January 2009, Singapore's official reserves stands at US$170.3 billion.

In 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Singapore the tenth most expensive city in the world in which to live—the third in Asia, after Tokyo and Osaka. The 2009 Cost of Living survey, by consultancy firm Mercer, has ranked Singapore similarly as the tenth most expensive city for expatriates to live in.

The population of Singapore including non-residents is approximately 4.86 million.[16] Singapore is highly cosmopolitan and diverse with Chinese people forming an ethnic majority with large populations of Malay, Indian and other people. English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese are the official languages.

Singapore is a parliamentary republic, and the Constitution of Singapore establishes representative democracy as the nation's political system. The People's Action Party (PAP) dominates the political process and has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959
Article Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore