Singapore |
| Date Added: July 01, 2007 01:10:26 AM |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The main island was a fishing village sparsely populated by indigenous Malays and Orang Lauts when it was colonized by the British East India Company in 1819. The British used the position as a tactical trading outpost along the spice route.[1] Occupied by the Japanese Empire during World War II, it reverted to British rule in 1945 and was later part of the merger which established Malaysia in 1963. Two years later, it was expelled due to ideological differences. Since gaining independence, Singapore has seen its standard of living rise dramatically. Foreign investment and government-led island-wide industrialization have created a modern economy based on electronics and manufacturing, featuring entrepôt and financial trade centering around the country's strategic location. In terms of GDP per capita, Singapore is the 18th wealthiest country in the world.[2] The geographically small nation has a foreign reserve of S$212 billion (US$139 billion).[3] In terms of quality of life, the Cost of Living Survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting (2007) ranked Singapore 5th most expensive country in Asia and 14th most expensive country to live in the world.[4] Despite wealth and a high standard of living, Singapore also has the highest per capita execution rate in the world at 13.57 per 1,000,000 residents, compared to just 4.65 in Saudi Arabia and 2.01 in China.[5] The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore established the city-state's political system as a representative democracy while the country has official United Nations' recognition as a parliamentary republic. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959. |
