Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It is located about one degree of latitude north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south along with the Riau Islands in Indonesia, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor along with the State of Johor in Malaysia to the north. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet; the combined area of these has increased by approximately 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects. It has the second highest population density of any country in the world, although there are numerous green and recreational spaces as a result of urban planning. With a multicultural population and in recognition of the cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is the lingua franca, with its exclusive use in numerous public services. Multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape national policies in education, housing, and politics.
The economy of Singapore is a highly developed mixed market economy with dirigiste characteristics. Singapore's economy has been consistently ranked as the most open in the world, the joint 4th-least corrupt, and the most pro-business. Singapore has low tax-rates and the highest per-capita GDP in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is headquartered in Singapore.
Goh Chok Tong is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party from 1992 to 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade SMC from 1976 to 1988, and Marine Parade GRC from 1988 to 2020.
Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, Singapore's film industry declined after independence in 1965. Film production increased in the 1990s, which saw the first locally produced feature-length films. There were a few films that featured Singaporean actors and were set in Singapore, including Saint Jack, They Call Her Cleopatra Wong and Crazy Rich Asians.
Chinese Singaporeans are Singaporeans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 75.9% of the Singaporean citizen population according to the official census, making them the largest ethnic group in Singapore.
CNA, which is an initialism derived from its previous name, Channel NewsAsia, is a Singaporean multinational news channel owned by Mediacorp, the country's state-owned media conglomerate. CNA broadcasts free-to-air domestically in Singapore, and internationally as a pay television channel to 29 territories across the Asia-Pacific.
James Gomez is a Singaporean academic, politician and a member of the Singapore Democratic Party.
Singapore's first public LGBT pride festival, IndigNation, took place during the month of August in 2005, with a second annual IndigNation in August 2006. Previous gay celebrations, exemplified by the Nation parties held annually in Singapore since 2001, were private commercial events held for LGBT recreation, but were also socio-political statements of significance in Singapore gay history and milestones in Singapore's human rights record.
A multitude of languages are used in Singapore. They consist of several varieties of languages under the families of the Austronesian, Dravidian, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan languages. The Constitution of Singapore states that the national language of Singapore is Malay. This plays a symbolic role, as Malays are constitutionally recognised as the indigenous peoples of Singapore, and it is the government's duty to protect their language and heritage. The constitution also states that the four commonly used languages of Singapore are English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil, with the lingua franca between Singaporeans of different races being English, the de facto main language. Singaporeans often speak Singlish among themselves, an English creole arising from centuries of contact between Singapore's internationalized society and the language of its former colonisers. Linguists define it as Singapore Colloquial English.
Immigration to Singapore is the process by which people migrate to Singapore for the purpose of residing there—and where a majority go on to become permanent residents and Singaporean citizens. Singapore is an attractive destination especially in the region as it is a country with a strong currency that offers high living standards, including in education, work, wages and safety as well as an overall far higher quality of life compared to its neighbours. High-net-worth or skilled immigrants worldwide are also attracted to Singapore's low tax rates and ease of doing business.
Koreans in Singapore consist mainly of South Korean expatriates. The community formed a population of 21,406 as of 2019, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, making them the world's 18th-largest Korean diaspora community. Their population has grown by about 60% since 2007. Many South Koreans living in Singapore are usually expatriates, consisting of 40-45% of the community, self-employed or Korean business owners consisting of 30% and students consisting of 20%.
Zhang Haijie is a China-born Singaporean news anchor contracted under Mediacorp.
Van Tuong Nguyen, baptised Caleb, was an Australian from Melbourne, Victoria convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore. A Vietnamese Australian, he was also addressed as Nguyen Tuong-van (阮祥雲) in the Singaporean media, his name in Vietnamese custom, as well as in most Asian customs.
Singaporean Australians are Australians of Singaporean descent. As Singapore is a multi-racial country, a Singaporean Australian could either be of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent, the main races of Singapore. According to the 2006 Australian census, 39,969 Australians were born in Singapore while 4,626 claimed Singaporean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.
China–Singapore relations, also known as Chinese–Singaporean relations or Sino–Singaporean relations, refers to the bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Singapore. Relations between the two countries formally started on 3 October 1990. Diplomatic missions were established in the early 1990s based on trade and the warming of ties from other ASEAN countries towards mainland China.
Foo Mee Har is a Malaysian-born Singaporean politician and businesswoman. She is a member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP). Foo has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ayer Rajah division from 2011 to 2020. Since 2020, she represents the Ayer Rajah-Gek Poh division, a result of the merger between the Jurong West portion of Hong Kah North SMC and West Coast GRC's Ayer Rajah ward.
Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian descent have made up the overwhelming majority of the population since the 19th century. The Singaporean diaspora is also far-reaching worldwide.
Yee Ming Innes Bridges is a British-Singaporean singer-songwriter, actress and model.
Malaysians in Singapore refers to citizens of Malaysia or Singaporean citizens of Malaysian origin residing in Singapore. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the community had a population of 952,261 in 2019, making them the world's largest Malaysian diaspora community. The community is also the largest foreign community in Singapore, constituting 44% of the country's foreign-born population and an additional 350,000 Malaysians cross the Johor–Singapore Causeway daily for work and school in the city-state.
Chinese nationals in Singapore refers to Chinese people who are of Chinese nationality residing in Singapore. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the community had a population of 451,481 in 2019, with 52,516 originating from Hong Kong and 18,820 from Macau, the 2 special administrative regions of China. The community of Chinese nationals are the 2nd largest foreign community in Singapore, constituting 18% of the country's foreign-born population.
