Map of Singapore -- The Cleanest Country In Asia

Map of Singapore

Officially Republic of Singapore , Malay Republik Singapura , Mandarin Chinese Hsin-chia-p'o Kung-ho-kuo , Tamil Singapore Kudiyarasu city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, about 85 miles (137 kilometres) north of the Equator.

It consists of the diamond-shaped Singapore Island and some 60 small islets, for a combined area of about 240 square miles (622 square kilometres); the main island occupies all but about 18 square miles of this territory.

TON the Map of Singapore the main island is separated from Peninsular Malaysia to the north by Johor Strait, a narrow channel crossed by a road and rail causeway that is more than half a mile long. The southern limits of the state run through Singapore Strait, where outliers of the Riau-Lingga Archipelago—which forms a part of Indonesia—extend to within 10 miles of the main island. ( see map of Singapore )

Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world.

It owes its growth and prosperity to its focal position at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, where it dominates the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. Once a British colony and now a member of the Commonwealth, Singapore first joined the Federation of Malaysia on its formation in 1963 but seceded to become an independent state on Aug. 9, 1965.

The People

The Map of Singapore shows the population of Singapore is diverse, the result of considerable past immigration. Chinese predominate, making up more than three-fourths of the total. Malays are the next largest ethnic group, and Indians the third. None of these three major communities is homogeneous. Among the Chinese, more than two-fifths originate from Fukien province and speak the Amoy dialect, about one-fourth are Teochew from the city of Swatow in Kwangtung province, and a smaller number are from other parts of Kwangtung. The Chinese community as a whole, therefore, speaks mutually incomprehensible dialects. Linguistic differences are less pronounced among the Malays, but the group includes Indonesians speaking Javanese, Boyanese, and other dialects. The Indian group is most diverse, consisting of Tamils (more than half), Malayalis, and Sikhs; it also includes Pakistani and Sinhalese communities.

Because of this ethnic diversity, no fewer than four official languages are recognized -- English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.

English remains the main medium for administration, commerce, and industry, and it is the primary language of instruction in schools. Mandarin, the official language of China, transcends dialect barriers, and its use is strongly promoted; one-third of the school population is taught in that language. Malay, like English, is widely used for communication among ethnic groups and plays a particularly useful role in view of the close ties between Singapore and Malaysia. ( See Map of Singapore)