General Introduction

Singapore officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia, and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, south of the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of a diamond-shaped main island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km2), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.

Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub. Its standings include: the most "technology-ready" nation (WEF), top International-meetings city (UIA), city with "best investment potential" (BERI), 2nd-most competitive country, 3rd-largest foreign exchange market, 3rd-largest financial centre, 3rd-largest oil refining and trading centre, and the second busiest container port. The country has also been identified as a tax haven.

Singapore is ranked 11th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index. It is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner occupied. 38% of Singapore's 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four official languages on the island: Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English. English is its common language; most Singaporeans are bilingual.

Let us share the beautiful scenery of Singapore.