REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

General information: Singapore is an island country in Southeast Asia, located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. In Sanskrit, Singapore means Lion City. The island, river, city and the country itself – all bear the name Singapore.

Area: 719.1 square kilometres.

National language: Malay.

Official languages: English (it is also the administrative language), Chinese and Tamil.

National flag: Features two horizontal sections of different (equal?) sizes; the red stripe symbolises brotherhood and equality, and the white denotes pureness and virtue. The white crescent moon in the upper left corner represents a young developing nation, and the five five-pointed stars that form a circle symbolise democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

National emblem: A red shield bearing a white crescent moon and five five-pointed stars. The shield is supported by a lion and a tiger standing on two golden palm leaves with a blue ribbon and the inscription “Onward Singapore.”

National anthem: Performed in the Malay language.

Population: 5.607 million, including 3.9 million citizens and permanent residents. The main ethnic groups are Chinese (74.3 percent), Malays (13.4 percent), Indians (9.1 percent) and other minority groups, including Europeans (3.2 percent).

Main religions: Buddhism (33.3 percent of citizens and permanent residents); Christianity (18.3 percent); Islam (14.7 percent); Daoism (10.9 percent); Hinduism (5.1 percent) and others (0.7 percent). Around 17 percent Singaporeans consider themselves atheists.

National holiday: Independence Day (1965), marked on August 9.

National holidays: the New Year (January 1); the Chinese New Year; Good Friday (a Catholic holiday); Labour Day (May 1); Vesak (a Buddhist holiday); Hari Raya Puasa (the end of Ramadan); Hari Raya Haji (the end of the Hajj); Diwali (a Hindu holiday) and Christmas ( December 25).

Singapore was a British colony for over 150 years. It declared independence on August 9, 1965, after leaving the Federation of Malaya.

Political system: Singapore is a parliamentary republic. The Parliament is unicameral with a term of five years. Most MPs are elected through a general election and represent single-member constituencies (SMCs) or group representation constituencies.

The President is the head of state directly elected to office for a six-year term by popular vote. In 2011, Tony Tan was elected President.  Lee Hsien Loong is the Prime Minister (since 2004; re-elected in 2006, 2011 and 2015). Vivian Balakrishnan is the Foreign Minister.

Economy: The Republic of Singapore is the most economically developed country in Southeast Asia. Singapore ranks fifth in terms of per capita income ($50,400 in 2015).

The Singaporean economy is one of the most open economies in the world: the exports and imports of goods and services exceed the country’s GDP by 3.3 times. In 2016, GDP was $297 billion with a growth of 1.8 percent. The foreign trade volume was $630 billion (a 5.4 percent decrease). Singapore ranks 14^th in the world among the largest exporters of goods (2.13 percent of world exports) and 16^th among importers (1.77 percent of world imports). The main exports are oil products, electronic integrated chips and micro components, digital processing devices, telecommunications equipment, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, and chemical products.

In 2016, the unemployment rate was 1.9 percent. Singapore has no external debt. The internal debt is $305.6 billion; the official gold and foreign currency reserves amount to $255.3 billion.

Currency: the Singapore dollar. In 2016, its exchange rate to the US dollar was 1.4463 Singapore dollars per $1[1].

In the country’s economic structure, industry accounts for 20 percent, retail and wholesale trade for 16 percent, business services for 16 percent, financial and insurance services for 13 percent, transportation and storage services for 7.4 percent, construction for 5.2 percent, and IT and communications services for 4.2 percent. The share of services in GDP is increasing (by 4 percent in the past 15 years).

Singapore is the largest transit hub in the region. Over 400 sea cargo routes connect Singapore with 600 ports in 128 countries. Its sea terminals process over 593.3 million tonnes of cargo.

No less important is Singapore Changi Airport with a capacity of 58.7 million passengers (as of 2016). The airport accommodates over 100 airlines and services 7,000 flights per week to over 320 cities in 90 countries.

Singapore has practically no agriculture.

Singapore is a member of 12 bilateral (with Australia, India, Jordan, China, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the US, Turkey and Japan) and 11 multilateral free trade agreements.

Domestic politics: The political situation is stable. The People's Action Party (created in 1954) has ruled the country since its independence. In total there are 22 registered political parties.

Armed forces: 60,300 personnel, including 47,800 in the ground forces; 7,700 people in the Air Force; 4,800 in the Navy and 312,500 reservists.  

Foreign policy: Singapore’s foreign policy is aimed at defending national interests and state sovereignty, and creating favourable conditions for sustainable economic development.

The main efforts in the region are focused on the further integration with the ASEAN, as well as strengthening the association’s key role in the Asia-Pacific region’s affairs, as well as building a new security infrastructure. Singapore considers its main elements to be East Asia summits, ASEAN regional forums on security (ARF) and meetings of ASEAN defence ministers with Dialogue Partners (ADMM-Plus).

Singapore is not a member of the G20, but has taken an active part in the group since 2010 (except 2012) as a representative of the Global Governance Group (3G).

In May 2013, Singapore joined the Arctic Council as an observer.