Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819.

When the main island was colonized by the British East India Company in 1819 it contained a fishing village sparsely populated by indigenous Malays and Orang Lauts at the mouth of the Singapore River.

The British used the position as a strategic trading outpost along the spice route.[1] It became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire, and the site in 1942 of what Winston Churchill called "Britain's biggest defeat" at the hands of the Japanese.

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 left the federation and became an independent republic on August 9, 1965. The new republic was admitted to the United Nations on September 21 that same year.

Singapore subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 4,553,009 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 15.2% (male 358,064/female 333,702) 15-64 years: 76.3% (male 1,692,817/female 1,780,982) 65 years and over: 8.5% (male 171,876/female 215,568) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 37.8 years male: 37.4 years female: 38.2 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.275% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 9.17 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 4.4 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 7.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.073 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.797 male(s)/female total population: 0.954 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 2.3 deaths/1,000 live births male: 2.5 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 81.8 years male: 79.21 years female: 84.59 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.07 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 4,100 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Singaporean(s) adjective: Singapore

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Ethnic groups: Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, other 1.4% (2000 census)

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Religions: Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)

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Languages: Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.5% male: 96.6% female: 88.6% (2000 census)

Singapore has a highly-developed and successful free-market economy. It enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the four largest West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in consumer electronics and information technology products. It was hard hit from 2001-03 by the global recession, by the slump in the technology sector, and by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, which curbed tourism and consumer spending. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous growth in 2004-06 with real GDP growth averaging 7% annually. The government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the global demand cycle for information technology products - it has attracted major investments in pharmaceuticals and medical technology production - and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $141.2 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $122.1 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 7.9% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $31,400 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 0% industry: 33.8% services: 66.2% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 2.4 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: manufacturing 18%, construction 6%, transportation and communication 11%, financial, business, and other services 39%, other 26% (2003)

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Unemployment rate: 3.1% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 42.5 (1998)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 21.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $19.71 billion expenditures: $19.85 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.1 billion (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 100.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: rubber, copra, fruit, orchids, vegetables; poultry, eggs; fish, ornamental fish

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Industries: electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences, entrepot trade

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Industrial production growth rate: 12.6% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 32.64 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 30.35 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 9,701 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 800,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 6.61 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 6.61 billion cu m note: from Indonesia and Malaysia (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: $35.58 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $283.6 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, chemicals, mineral fuels

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Exports - partners: Malaysia 13.1%, US 10.2%, Hong Kong 10.1%, China 9.7%, Indonesia 9.2%, Japan 5.5%, Thailand 4.2% (2006)

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Imports: $246.1 billion (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Malaysia 13%, US 12.7%, China 11.4%, Japan 8.3%, Indonesia 6.2%, South Korea 4.4% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $134.6 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $24.3 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $NA

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Currency (code): Singapore dollar (SGD)

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Exchange rates: Singapore dollars per US dollar - 1.5889 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003), 1.7906 (2002)

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Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March