]! ^! 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. Singapore 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 `l within and beyond territorial sea, as defined in treaties and practice ^* tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon (December to March) and Southwestern monsoon (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 ^. `' 1.47% `( 1.47% `) 97.06% (2005) ^/ NA ^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 _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 focal point for Southeast Asian sea routes 
]# ^3 4,553,009 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 15.2% (male 358,064/female 333,702) `, 76.3% (male 1,692,817/female 1,780,982) `- 8.5% (male 171,876/female 215,568) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 37.8 years `. 37.4 years `/ 38.2 years (2007 est.) ^6 1.275% (2007 est.) ^7 9.17 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 4.4 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 7.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.08 male(s)/female `1 1.073 male(s)/female `, 0.95 male(s)/female `- 0.797 male(s)/female `2 0.954 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 2.3 deaths/1,000 live births `. 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 2.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 81.8 years `. 79.21 years `/ 84.59 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.07 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 0.2% (2003 est.) ^? 4,100 (2003 est.) ^@ less than 200 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Singaporean(s) `4 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 `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 92.5% `. 96.6% `/ 88.6% (2002) 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Singapore `7 Singapore `Z Republic of Singapore `[ Singapore ^H parliamentary republic ^I `8 Singapore `9 1 17 N, 103 51 E `: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^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 `; President S R NATHAN (since 1 September 1999) `* uses S R NATHAN but his full name and the one used in formal communications is Sellapan RAMANATHAN `< 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 WONG Kan Seng (since 1 September 2005) `= appointed by president, responsible to parliament `> president elected by popular vote for six-year term; appointed on 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; scheduled election not held ^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; up to three losing opposition candidates who came closest to winning seats may be appointed as "nonconstituency" members `> last held on 6 May 2006 (next to be held in 2011) `? percent of vote by party - PAP 66.6%, WP 16.3%, SDA 13%, SDP 4.1%; seats by party - PAP 82, WP 1, SDA 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 People's Action Party or PAP [LEE Hsien Loong]; Singapore Democratic Alliance or SDA [CHIAM See Tong]; Singapore Democratic Party or SDP [CHEE Soon Juan]; Workers' Party or WP [Sylvia LIM Swee Lian] `* SDA includes National Solidarity Party or NSP, Singapore Justice Party or SJP, Singapore National Malay Organization or PKMS, Singapore People's Party or SPP ^T NA ^U APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, BIS, C, CP, EAS, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador CHAN Heng Chee `S 3501 International Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 537-3100 `U [1] (202) 537-0876 `V San Francisco `^ New York ^W `R Ambassador Patricia L. HERBOLD `_ 27 Napier Road, Singapore 258508 `` FPO AP 96507-0001 `T [65] 6476-9100 `U [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 has a highly-developed and successful free-market economy. It enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the four largest West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in consumer electronics and information technology products. It was hard hit from 2001-03 by the global recession, by the slump in the technology sector, and by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, which curbed tourism and consumer spending. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous growth in 2004-06 with real GDP growth averaging 7% annually. The government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the global demand cycle for information technology products - it has attracted major investments in pharmaceuticals and medical technology production - and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. ^Z $138.6 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $121.5 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 7.4% (2006 est.) ^] $30,900 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 0% `A 33.8% `B 66.2% (2006 est.) ^_ 2.4 million (2006 est.) ^` manufacturing 18%, construction 6%, transportation and communication 11%, financial, business, and other services 39%, other 26% (2003) ^a 3.1% (2006 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _d 42.5 (1998) _# 1% (2006 est.) _V 21.8% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $19.71 billion `F $19.85 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.1 billion (2006 est.) _% 100.6% of GDP (2006 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 _( 12.6% (2006 est.) _) 32.64 billion kWh (2004) _* 30.35 billion kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 9,701 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 800,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 6.61 billion cu m (2004 est.) _X 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Y 6.61 billion cu m `* from Indonesia and Malaysia (2004 est.) _Q $35.58 billion (2006 est.) _3 $283.6 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, chemicals, mineral fuels _5 Malaysia 13.3%, US 10.4%, Indonesia 9.6%, Hong Kong 9.4%, China 8.6%, Japan 5.5%, Thailand 4.1% (2005) _6 $246.1 billion (2006 est.) _7 machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs _8 Malaysia 13.7%, US 11.7%, China 10.3%, Japan 9.6%, Taiwan 5.9%, Indonesia 5.2%, Saudi Arabia 4.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2005) _[ $134.6 billion (2006 est.) _9 $24.3 billion (2006 est.) _: $NA _; Singapore dollar (SGD) _< Singapore dollars per US dollar - 1.5889 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003), 1.7906 (2002) _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 1.848 million (2005) _? 4.385 million (2005) _@ `G excellent service `H excellent domestic facilities; launched 3G wireless service in February 2005 `I country code - 65; 9 submarine cables provide direct connection to more than 100 countries; satellite earth stations -4; supplemented by VSAT coverage _A AM 0, FM 17, shortwave 2 (2003) _B 1 (broadcasting on six channels); additional reception of numerous UHF and VHF signals originating in Malaysia and Indonesia (2006) _C .sg _D 898,762 (2006) _E 2.422 million (2005) 
]' _F 9 (2006) _G `! 9 `a 2 `J 1 `b 4 `c 1 `W 1 (2006) _^ gas 139 km; refined products 8 km (2006) _H `! 3,234 km `K 3,234 km (includes 150 km of expressways) (2005) _S `! 1,063 ships (1000 GRT or over) 31,033,735 GRT/49,715,650 DWT by type: bulk carrier 155, cargo 87, chemical tanker 136, container 214, liquefied gas 53, livestock carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 353, refrigerated cargo 10, roll on/roll off 2, specialized tanker 11, vehicle carrier 40 `X 592 (Australia 7, Bangladesh 1, Belgium 12, China 23, Denmark 52, Germany 9, Greece 9, Hong Kong 50, India 5, Indonesia 56, Italy 2, Japan 100, South Korea 17, Malaysia 35, Netherlands 2, Norway 90, Philippines 5, Slovenia 1, Sweden 12, Taiwan 59, Thailand 22, UAE 7, UK 9, US 7) `d 285 (Antigua and Barbuda 1, Bahamas 12, Belize 6, Bolivia 3, Cambodia 4, Cayman Islands 10, Cyprus 1, Dominica 9, France 2, Honduras 11, Hong Kong 24, Indonesia 17, Isle of Man 7, North Korea 1, Liberia 28, Malaysia 44, Marshall Islands 6, Mongolia 10, Nigeria 1, Panama 67, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5, Thailand 6, Tuvalu 6, US 2, unknown 2) (2006) _I Singapore 
]( _J Singapore Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Republic of Singapore Air Force (includes Air Defense) (2006) _T 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; conscript service obligation reduced to 24 months beginning December 2004 (2004) _K males age 18-49: 1,215,568 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 982,368 (2005 est.) _U 4.9% (2005 est.) 
]) _N disputes persist with Malaysia over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's extensive land reclamation works, bridge construction, and maritime boundaries in the Johor and Singapore Straits; in November 2007, the ICJ will hold public hearings as a consequence of the Memorials and Countermemorials filed by the parties in 2003 and 2005 over sovereignty of Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge; Indonesia and Singapore continue to work on finalization of their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Indonesia's Batam Island; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait _O drug abuse limited because of aggressive law enforcement efforts; as a transportation and financial services hub, Singapore is vulnerable, despite strict laws and enforcement, as a venue for money laundering 