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Singapore

✨ The garden city of the future

Singapore is a city-state and island country in Southeast Asia, located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Its territory includes the main island of Singapore and more than 60 smaller islands, although most of the population and urban development are concentrated on the main island. It covers about 735 square kilometres, with the exact area changing gradually because of land reclamation. Singapore lies just north of the equator and is separated from Malaysia by the Johor Strait, while Indonesia is located across the Singapore Strait to the south.

The country has a low and mostly flat landscape, with its highest natural point, Bukit Timah Hill, rising to about 164 metres. Singapore is highly urbanised, but parks, reservoirs, mangroves and other green spaces remain part of its landscape. The city of Singapore serves as the country's capital and is also its main political, financial and commercial centre. Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate, with high temperatures, substantial humidity and rainfall throughout the year.

There is no pronounced dry season, although rainfall varies from month to month and is influenced by the monsoon seasons. Because Singapore has few natural freshwater resources, it relies on a combination of local water collection, imported water, highly treated reclaimed water and desalinated seawater. Its coastal environment includes mangroves, seagrass habitats and coral reefs, supporting a variety of plants and animals despite extensive urbanisation.

Singapore's economy is based on international trade, finance, manufacturing, logistics, technology and services. Its position near major maritime routes linking the Indian Ocean and the Pacific has helped it become an important global port and transport hub. The country has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil. English is the main language used in government, education and business, while Malay has a special status as the national language.

💡 Did you know?

Have you heard of the Merlion? It is the fantastic creature that protects Singapore! It has the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The head represents the city's original name, 'Singapura,' which means 'Lion City.' The fish body recalls that Singapore was once a small fishing village. If you go to Singapore, you'll see a giant Merlion statue spitting water from its mouth in the marina!

Singapore is home to 'trees' from the future in a garden called 'Gardens by the Bay.' These are the Supertrees: large metal structures 25 to 50 meters high covered with over 160,000 plants! The most fun part is that they function like real trees: some collect rainwater to water the plants, and others have solar panels to produce electricity and light up magically at night!

Singapore is likely the cleanest city you will ever visit! There are very strict laws to keep everything flawless. For example, it is totally forbidden to sell or chew gum in the street because it dirties the sidewalks! If you throw a small piece of paper on the ground, you can get a large fine. Thanks to this, metro stations and streets shine as if they were new every day.