Singapore

Welcome to the Travel Online Asia site featuring Singapore. In this site you will find information about travel to Singapore, attractions in Singapore and plenty of Singapore accommodation options. We represent accommodation in the following regions: Singapore Central Business, Chinatown, Little India, Orchard and Singapore Changi Airport. Read on for more information about Singapore...

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometers (85 miles) north of the Equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of the Indonesian Riau Islands. At 704.0 km², it is the smallest country in Southeast Asia.

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 utilized its position as a tactical trading outpost along the spice route. 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 with the UMNO ruling party.

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. In terms of GDP per capita, Singapore is the 17th wealthiest country in the world. In terms of quality of life, Singapore was ranked highest in Asia and 11th in the world by The Economist in 2005.

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 of a parliamentary republic. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament in every election since self-government in 1959.

Singapore consists of 63 islands, including the main island itself. There are two connections to Johor - the man-made Johor-Singapore Causeway in the north and Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's many smaller islands. The highest natural point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill at 166 metres.

The urban area used to be only concentrated on the south of Singapore, around the mouth of the Singapore River, and what is now the Downtown Core, while the rest of the land was undeveloped tropical rainforest or used for agriculture. Since the 1960s, the government has constructed new residential towns in outlying areas, resulting in an entirely built-up urban landscape. The Urban Redevelopment Authority is the government agency responsible for the urban planning of Singapore.