Southeast Asia · Asia

Singapore

Discover Singapore - a city-state smaller than most cities that became one of the world's wealthiest nations through sheer ambition, discipline, and legendary efficiency.

Where Is Singapore?

Singapore is a city-state in Southeast Asia.

Where Singapore isSoutheast Asia · Capital Singapore

Capital Singapore
Population 6.11M
Area 710 km²

Singapore should not work. It is a city-state smaller than New York City with zero natural resources - no oil, no minerals, not even enough fresh water for its own population. When it was expelled from Malaysia in 1965, its founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew wept on national television. Sixty years later, Singapore has a higher GDP per capita than the United States, one of the best education systems on Earth, the world's best airport (Changi, named best for the fourteenth time), and a skyline that looks like it was designed by a committee of science fiction authors.

The secret is relentless pragmatism. Singapore is governed with an efficiency that borders on obsession. The streets are spotless, the public transport is immaculate, corruption is virtually nonexistent, and the bureaucracy actually works. The trade-off is a level of government control that makes libertarians nervous - chewing gum is restricted, vandalism gets you caned, and the ruling party has won every election since independence. But the results speak for themselves: this tiny island is one of the busiest container ports in the world, a global financial hub, and home to one of the most diverse food cultures on the planet.

That food culture is Singapore's soul. Hawker centers - open-air food courts where dishes cost a few dollars - are UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage. Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Peranakan cuisines collide here in ways found nowhere else. You can eat chicken rice, laksa, roti prata, and chili crab all within a hundred meters. Gardens by the Bay's supertrees glow at night. Marina Bay Sands is one of the most photographed buildings on Earth. And somewhere between the gleaming towers and the hawker stalls, 5.6 million people from dozens of ethnicities somehow make it all work.

At a glance

Language

English, Malay, Mandarin & Tamil

Currency

Singapore Dollar (SGD)

Calling Code

+65

Drives On

Left

Internet

.sg

Timezone

SGT (UTC+8)

Script

Latin, Chinese, Tamil

Government

Unitary Parliamentary Republic

Independence

1965

By population

Largest cities in Singapore

Singapore

The entire country is a single city-state, organized into planning areas and neighborhoods from the colonial charm of Chinatown to the futuristic Marina Bay

5,640,000

People

Famous people from Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew
Politics
Founding father who served as Prime Minister for 31 years and transformed Singapore from a struggling port into a first-world nation in a single generation
Joseph Schooling
Sport
Won Singapore's first-ever Olympic gold medal by beating Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Tan Dun
Music
Chinese-born composer who won the Oscar for the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon score and blends Eastern and Western musical traditions
Kevin Kwan
Literature
Author of Crazy Rich Asians, which became a global bestseller and the first major Hollywood film with an all-Asian cast in 25 years

Food

Traditional cuisine of Singapore

Hainanese Chicken Rice: Singapore's national dish - poached chicken over fragrant rice cooked in chicken fat, served with chili sauce and a bowl of broth
Chili Crab: Mud crab stir-fried in a sweet, spicy tomato-chili sauce, messy to eat and worth every stain on your shirt
Laksa: Rich coconut curry noodle soup with shrimp, fishcake, and bean sprouts - the Katong version with cut noodles is legendary
Roti Prata: Flaky, crispy Indian flatbread served with curry dipping sauce, a breakfast staple eaten at any hour
Char Kway Teow: Flat rice noodles stir-fried with soy sauce, shrimp, cockles, Chinese sausage, and egg over intense wok heat

Nature

Nature and landmarks in Singapore

Gardens by the BayLandmark: Futuristic park on reclaimed land featuring 50-meter tall Supertrees, the Cloud Forest dome, and the Flower Dome - the world's largest glass greenhouse
Bukit Timah Nature ReserveForest: One of the few remaining patches of primary tropical rainforest in Singapore, with more tree species per hectare than all of North America
Pulau UbinIsland: Rustic offshore island that preserves the kampung village life of old Singapore, with mangroves, quarry lakes, and wild boars
Sungei Buloh Wetland ReserveNational Park: Mangrove wetland on the northern coast that is a major stopover for migratory birds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway

Sport

Sports in Singapore

Football: Most popular spectator sport with the Singapore Premier League, and the national team has won the ASEAN Championship four times
Swimming: Joseph Schooling's 2016 Olympic gold in the 100m butterfly was one of the biggest upsets in swimming history, beating Michael Phelps
Table Tennis: Singapore's women's team won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one of the country's greatest sporting achievements

Facts

Did you know?

Singapore is one of only three city-states in the world, along with Monaco and Vatican City
Changi Airport has been voted the world's best airport so many times it has its own butterfly garden, swimming pool, and movie theater
The country imports its drinking water from Malaysia and also has four national taps including desalination and recycled water called NEWater
Singapore's hawker culture was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020
Chewing gum has been restricted since 1992, though therapeutic gum like nicotine gum can be purchased from pharmacies
Singapore is so small that you can drive across the entire island in about 45 minutes
The Merlion, Singapore's mascot, is a mythical creature with a lion's head and a fish's body, representing the city's origins as a fishing village