]! ^! Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe. 
]" ^" Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia ^# 1 22 N, 103 48 E ^$ Southeast Asia ^% `! 692.7 sq km `" 682.7 sq km `# 10 sq km ^& slightly more than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 193 km ^) `$ 3 nm `a within and beyond territorial sea, as defined in treaties and practice ^* tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon from December to March and Southwestern monsoon from June to September; inter-monsoon - frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms ^+ lowland; gently undulating central plateau contains water catchment area and nature preserve ^, `% Singapore Strait 0 m `& Bukit Timah 166 m ^- fish, deepwater ports ^. `' 1.64% `( 0% `) 98.36% (2001) ^/ NA sq km ^0 NA ^1 industrial pollution; limited natural fresh water resources; limited land availability presents waste disposal problems; seasonal smoke/haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution `L none of the selected agreements ^2 focal point for Southeast Asian sea routes 
]# ^3 4,425,720 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 16% (male 366,971/female 342,295) `+ 75.9% (male 1,639,842/female 1,719,829) `, 8.1% (male 157,636/female 199,147) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 36.76 years `- 36.4 years `. 37.07 years (2005 est.) ^6 1.56% (2005 est.) ^7 9.49 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 4.16 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 10.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.08 male(s)/female `0 1.07 male(s)/female `+ 0.95 male(s)/female `, 0.79 male(s)/female `1 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 2.29 deaths/1,000 live births `- 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births `. 2.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 81.62 years `- 79.05 years `. 84.39 years (2005 est.) ^= 1.05 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 0.2% (2003 est.) ^? 4,100 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Singaporean(s) `3 Singapore ^B Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, other 1.4% (2000 census) ^C Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census) ^D Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census) ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 92.5% `- 96.6% `. 88.6% (2002) 
]$ ^F `4 Republic of Singapore `5 Singapore ^H parliamentary republic ^I Singapore ^J none ^K 9 August 1965 (from Malaysian Federation) ^L National Day, 9 August (1965) ^M 3 June 1959; amended 1965 (based on preindependence State of Singapore Constitution) ^N based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 21 years of age; universal and compulsory ^P `6 President Sellapan Rama (S. R.) NATHAN (since 1 September 1999) `7 Prime Minister LEE Hsien Loong (since 12 August 2004); Senior Minister GOH Chok Tong (since 12 August 2004); Minister Mentor LEE Kuan Yew (since 12 August 2004); Deputy Prime Ministers Shunmugan JAYAKUMAR (since 12 August 2004) and Tony TAN Keng Yam (since 1 August 1995) `8 Cabinet appointed by president, responsible to Parliament `9 president elected by popular vote for six-year term; last appointed 17 August 2005 (next election to be held by August 2011); following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by president; deputy prime ministers appointed by president `: Sellapan Rama (S. R.) NATHAN appointed president in August 2005 after Presidential Elections Committee disqualified three other would-be candidates ^Q unicameral Parliament (84 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - in addition, there are up to nine nominated members; the losing opposition candidate who came closest to winning a seat may be appointed as a "nonconstituency" member `9 last held 3 November 2001 (next to be held not later than 25 June 2007) `: percent of vote by party - PAP 75.3% (in contested constituencies), other 24.7%; seats by party - PAP 82, WP 1, SPP 1 ^R Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the president with the advice of the prime minister, other judges are appointed by the president with the advice of the chief justice); Court of Appeals ^S governing party: People's Action Party or PAP [LEE Hsien Loong]; opposition parties: Democratic Progressive Party or DPP [LING How Dong]; National Solidarity Party or NSP [vacant] (SDA group); Singapore Democratic Alliance or SDA [CHIAM See Tong] (includes SPP, PKMS, NSP, SJP); Singapore Democratic Party or SDP [CHEE Soon Juan]; Singapore Justice Party or SJP [Desmond LIM] (SDA group); Singapore National Malay Organization or PKMS [Malik ISMAIL] (SDA group); Singapore People's Party or SPP [CHIAM See Tong] (SDA group); Workers' Party or WP [Sylvia Lim Swee LIAN] ^T NA ^U APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, BIS, C, CP, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador CHAN Heng Chee `O 3501 International Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 537-3100 `Q [1] (202) 537-0876 `R San Francisco `g New York ^W `N Ambassador Franklin L. LAVIN `Z 27 Napier Road, Singapore 258508 `[ FPO AP 96507-0001 `P [65] 6476-9100 `Q [65] 6476-9340 ^X two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; near the hoist side of the red band, there is a vertical, white crescent (closed portion is toward the hoist side) partially enclosing five white five-pointed stars arranged in a circle 
]% ^Y Singapore, a highly developed and successful free market economy, enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the Big 4 West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing. It was hard hit in 2001-03 by the global recession, by the slump in the technology sector, and by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, which curbed tourism and consumer spending. The government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous growth in 2004, with real GDP rising by 8 percent, by far the economy's best performance since 2000. ^Z $120.9 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 8.1% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $27,800 (2004 est.) ^] `; 0% negligible `< 32.6% `= 67.4% (2004 est.) ^^ 2.18 million (2004 est.) ^_ manufacturing 18%, construction 6%, transportation and communication 11%, financial, business, and other services 49%, other 16% (2003) ^` 3.4% (2004 est.) ^a NA _! `> NA `? NA _" 1.7% (2004 est.) _P 27.4% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $17.05 billion `A $18.45 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.8 billion (2004 est.) _Q 102.5% of GDP (2004 est.) _$ rubber, copra, fruit, orchids, vegetables, poultry, eggs, fish, ornamental fish _% electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences, entrepot trade _& 11.1% (2004 est.) _' 35.33 billion kWh (2003) _( 32 billion kWh (2003) _) 0 kWh (2003) _* 0 kWh (2003) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 700,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _S 0 cu m (2001 est.) _T 2.5 billion cu m (2001 est.) _U 0 cu m (2001 est.) _V 2.5 billion cu m note: from Indonesia and Malaysia (2001 est.) _X $8.8 billion (2004 est.) _/ $174 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _0 machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, chemicals, mineral fuels _1 Malaysia 15.2%, US 13%, Hong Kong 9.8%, China 8.6%, Japan 6.4%, Taiwan 4.6%, Thailand 4.3%, South Korea 4.1% (2004) _2 $155.2 billion (2004 est.) _3 machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs _4 Malaysia 15.3%, US 12.7%, Japan 11.7%, China 9.9%, Taiwan 5.7%, South Korea 4.3%, Thailand 4.1% (2004) _Y $112.8 billion (2004 est.) _5 $19.4 billion (2004 est.) _6 NA _7 Singapore dollar (SGD) _8 Singapore dollars per US dollar - 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003), 1.7906 (2002), 1.7917 (2001), 1.724 (2000) _9 1 April - 31 March 
]& _: 1,896,100 (2004) _; 3,521,800 (2004) _< `B excellent service `C excellent domestic facilities `D country code - 65; submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia, and the Philippines; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region) _= AM 0, FM 17, shortwave 2 (2003) _> 7 (2003) _? .sg _@ 484,825 (2003) _A 2.31 million (2002) 
]' _B `! 3,130 km `E 3,130 km (including 150 km of expressways) `F 0 km (2002) _[ gas 139 km (2004) _C Singapore _K `! 923 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 23,065,290 GRT/36,393,317 DWT by type: bulk carrier 138, cargo 86, chemical tanker 115, combination ore/oil 5, container 180, liquefied gas 42, livestock carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 316, refrigerated cargo 3, vehicle carrier 36 `S 487 (Australia 5, Bangladesh 1, Belgium 10, China 15, Denmark 34, Germany 7, Greece 5, Hong Kong 43, India 3, Indonesia 54, Japan 83, Malaysia 31, Norway 83, Philippines 3, Russia 1, Slovenia 1, South Korea 12, Sweden 12, Taiwan 44, Thailand 17, UAE 6, United Kingdom 12, United States 5) `\ 276 (2005) _D 10 (2004 est.) _E `! 10 `] 2 `G 2 `^ 4 `_ 1 `T 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Singapore Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense (2005) _M 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; conscript service obligation reduced to 24 months beginning December 2004 (December 2004) _] males age 18-49: 1,215,568 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 982,368 (2005 est.) _N $4.47 billion (FY01 est.) _O 4.9% (FY01) 
]) _H disputes persist with Malaysia over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's extensive land reclamation works, bridge construction, maritime boundaries, and Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Putih - parties agree to ICJ arbitration on island dispute within three years; Indonesia and Singapore pledged in 2005 to finalize their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Batam Island; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait _I as a transportation and financial services hub, Singapore is vulnerable, despite strict laws and enforcement, to be used as a transit point for Golden Triangle heroin and as a venue for money laundering 