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| Full Name: |
Republic of Singapore |
| Capital City: |
Singapore |
| Area: |
683 sq km / 264 sq miles |
| Population: |
4,000,000 |
| Time Zone: |
GMT/UTC /8 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| Language: |
English (official)
Tamil (essential)
Malay (essential)
Mandarin (essential)
Cantonese (essential)
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| Religion: |
42% Buddhist, 15% Muslim, 14% Christian, 9% Taoist, 4% Hindu
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| Currency: |
Singapore Dollar |
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At a glance
Singapore is an island-state in Southeast Asia , connected by bridges to Malaysia . Founded as a British trading colony in 1819, since independence it has become one of the world's most prosperous countries, sporting the world's busiest port. Combining the skyscrapers and subways of a modern, affluent city with a medley of Chinese, Indian and Malay influences and a lush tropical climate, with tasty food, good shopping and a happening, vibrant nightlife scene, this Garden City makes a great stopover or springboard into the region.
The year kicks off with a bang on January 1st and New Year, celebrated in Singapore just as in the West with a fireworks show and parties at every nightspot in town. Particularly famous are the wet and wild foam parties on the beaches of resort island Sentosa — at least those years when the authorities deign to permit such relative debauchery. In Singapore the weather is usually sunny with no distinct seasons. Rain falls almost daily throughout the year, usually in sudden, heavy showers that rarely last longer than an hour.
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