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Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a leading global city-state and island country in Southeast Asia.
It lies at the southernmost tip of continental Asia, one degree (137 km; 85 mi) north of the
equator, and is separated from Peninsular Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to the north and from
Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the
diamond-shaped main island (commonly referred to as Singapore Island and Pulau Ujong in
Malay) and more than 60 significantly smaller islets. Since the 1960s, ongoing land reclamation
have increased Singapore's land area, which is highly urbanised, by at least 20%.
The islands
Singapore is a global commerce, transportation and financial hub, ranked as the "Easiest place to
do business" for nine consecutive years by the World Bank. It is the world's top meeting city
(UIA) and Asia's top convention city since 2002 (ICCA). Globally, it is the "City with the best
investment potential" (BERI), 2nd most competitive country, 3rd-largest foreign exchange
centre, 4th-largest financial centre and one of the top two busiest container ports since the 1990s.
Singapore's best known global brands include Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Changi Airport, both
amongst the most-awarded in their industry; SIA is also rated by Fortune surveys as Asia's "most
admired company". For the past decade, Singapore has been the only Asian country with the top
AAA sovereign rating from all major credit rating agencies, including S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Singapore ranks high on key measures of national social progress, It leads Asia, and 9th globally,
on the Human Development Index, including education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of
life, personal safety, housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their
homes and the nation has one of the highest per capita incomes. The cosmopolitan and culturally
diverse nation is home to 5.5 million residents, 38% of whom are permanent residents and other
foreign nationals. SingaporeansChinese (74.1%), Malays (13.4%), Indians (9.2%), and
Eurasiansare mostly bilingual, with English as its common language and a second mother-
tongue language.
The nation's core principles are meritocracy, multiculturalism and secularism. It is noted for its
effective, pragmatic and incorrupt governance and civil service, which together with its rapid
development policies, is widely cited as the "Singapore model". Gallup polls shows 84% of its
residents expressed confidence in the national government, one of the highest ratings in the
world.
Singapore is a unitary multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of
unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party has won every election since
self-government in 1959. One of the five founding members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), Singapore is also the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) Secretariat, and a member of the East Asia Summit, the Non-Aligned Movement, and
the Commonwealth of Nations. Singapore has significant influence on global affairs relative to
its size, leading some analysts to classify it as a middle power. It is ranked as Asia's most
influential city and 4th in the world by Forbes.