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Facts of Singapore
One of the amazing facts on Singapore is, how bona fide managed to fast developed itself from a developing country to a first off world nation magnetism short 40 + agedness. Modern month Singapore has got anything to offer from buzzing residence lives, classy congenital funds, parks and beaches, jumbo arts scene, spirited ethnic alloy, heavenly body's cardinal fashion and exotic western and South east asian cuisines.
Geographical Facts on Singapore:
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Singapore is located upright North of Equator, Southern most Tip of West Malaysia. True is unreal up of 63 islands inclusive of the main island itself.
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The main island is a diamond - shaped island some 45km west to east and 25km north to south.
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Total land area including offshore islands: 699 square kilometres
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Tropical climate, where it's warm and wet most of the year (Coolest month: December, Warmest month: May)
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Normal temperature ranges between 25.1° - 31° C
Race Facts and Figures
Singapore is the second most densely populated independent country. As of June 2006, a total population of 4.49 million comprising all ethnic groups each keep their own solitary culture. The government aims at hitting a population of 6.5 million by the year 2029 with large input of foriegn talent to cultivate the country into a global city.
Ethnic Chinese: 76.8 %
Ethnic Malay: 13.9 %
Ethnic Indian: 7.9 %
other ethnic groups: 1.4 %
People
Singapore's people are largely descendants of immigrants from the Malay Peninsula, China and the Indian sub-continent. |
Religions Facts and Figures
Buddhism - 42.5%
Christianity - 14.6%
Islam - 13.9%
Taoism - 8.5%
Hinduism - 4%
Others - 1.6%
No religion - 14.6%
Economics Facts and Figures
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Money Supply: $46 billion (as at 2005, comprising currency in active circulation and demand deposits of private sector)
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Official Foreign Reserves: $193 billion (2005)
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Economic growth: 6.4%
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Biomedical Sciences manufacturing output climbed 9.8 per cent to $18 billion while value-added was $9.2 billion in 2005
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Biomedical Sciences cluster attracted $859 million in manufacturing fixed asset investments and $149 million in total business spending in 2005
| Major trading partners: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, China, Saudi Arabia, United States of America and Australia. |
Employment & Education Facts and Figures
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Labour force: 2,367,300. Employed persons: 2,266,700 (2005)
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Unemployment rate: 3.4%
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Tertiary education - 3 local universities (National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University) with a host of foreign universities including INSEAD, Chicago Graduate School of Business, MIT; 5 polytechnics, and an Open University Degree Programme by the Singapore Institute of Management for working adults
Central Provident Fund: A social security savings scheme in which all employees and their employers contribute a percentage of their salary. Employees below 55 years contribute 20% while employers contribute 13%. Employees 55 years and above contribute at lower rates. In addition to providing security for old age, this fund can also be used for healthcare, home ownership and asset enhancement.
There are 3.05 million CPF members and their CPF balance stood at $119.79 billion (as at December 2005)
Wage policies: The National Wages Council made up of representatives from the government, employers groups & trade unions advises the government on wage policies, and issues guidelines in line with long term economic objectives. There are 70 registered employees' trade unions and 3 employer unions and one federation of employee trade union, National Trade Union Congress (NTUC). NTUC works closely with the government and business sector to look after workers' interest.
Transport and Communication Facts and Figures
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Port figures 2005: Total number of vessels calling at the Singapore port: 130,318. Total container. throughput: 21,329,100 TEUs
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Airport statistics (2005): Total number of aircraft movements: 204,138. Total passenger traffic: 32.43 million. Changi Airport is served by more than 84 airlines connecting Singapore to 180 cities. Cargo handled: 1.83 million tonnes
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Forms of public transport: MRT service: 68 stations; LRT service: 43 stations; bus service: 2 companies operating 265 routes with a fleet of 3,429 buses; taxi service: 20,407 taxis
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Forms of communications (April 2008):
Total no. of mobile subscriptions: 5,993,800 (130.6%)
Total no. of pager subscribers: 29,500 (0.6%)
Residential telephone line subscriptions: 1,862,500 (95.4%)
Total no. of Internet dial-up subscriptions: 122,400 (2.7%)
Total no. of residential broadband subscriptions: 940,500 (82.5%)
Mass Media |
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No. of local newspapers |
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10 dailies with an average combined circulation of about 1.5 million |
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No. of foreign publications, journals & magazines |
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5,500 |
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No. of TV broadcasters |
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1 (MediaCorp) |
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No. of radio broadcasters |
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6 (MediaCorp Radio, UnionWorkds, SAFRA Radio, National Arts Council, Redifussion and BBC World Service) |
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No. of TV cable operator |
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1 (StarHub Cable TV) |
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No.s of radio channels (domestic) |
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18 |
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No. of free terrestrial TV channels |
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8 |
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Internet dial-up penetration rate |
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2.7% (as at April 08) |
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Cable modem subscribers |
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406,800 (as at April 08) |
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xDSL subscribers |
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502,300 (as at April 2008) |
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Wireless Broadband subscribers |
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2,862,800 (as at April 2008) |
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Broadband Penetration |
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82.5% of Singapore households (as at April 2008) |
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Business Information Facts and Figures
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Cosmopolitan city-state at the crossroads of international trade routes
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Home to over 7,000 multinational corporations that use Singapore as a base for their business operations
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Access to 2.8 billion people within a 7-hour flight radius for markets, resources, talents and intellectual capital
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Economy is based on free enterprise, with no restriction on foreign ownership of businesses and employment of foreign expertise
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Repatriation of profits and import of capital are freely allowed. No capital gains tax
Arts, Sports & Recreation Facts
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Festival of Arts; a month-long festival traditionally held in June every year. Two-week Arts marathon covering a wide spectrum of performance art, dance and music
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Arts on the Move takes theatre beyond the confines of traditional performance venues, to parks, town centres and pedestrian malls
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World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival, where the pulsating beats of world music infuse a colourful display of ethnic crafts and cuisine
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Fullerton Hotel - a fully restored former colonial-era post office. Right across from the hotel is One Fullerton, a stretch of up-market establishments for wining and dining
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Tanjong Pagar, encompassing the Chinatown districts of Club Street, Pagoda Street and Trengganu Street, features trendy wine bars, cafes, art galleries and media houses occupy the premises of former shop houses
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CHIJMES offers a chic assortment of fine restaurants, cafes, wine bars and pubs after being refurbished from an old Gothic-style school and chapel
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Mohammad Sultan Road, Robertson Walk and Tanjong Pagar, feature a stretch of bustling pubs and clubs, for younger set of students and 20-something professionals
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More than 150 cinemas in Singapore screening the most recent movies from all over the world
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Indoor and outdoor sports are available at community clubs, private clubs, the Singapore Sports Council
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Favorite parks and gardens: Botanical Gardens, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Sungei Buloh Nature Park, and the Chinese and Japanese Gardens
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Sungei Buloh - an 87-hectare wetland nature reserve for bird watching - home to 180 feathered species
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Best New Attraction in ASEAN 2002 (Singapore Zoological Gardens) - ASEANA Awards for Excellence 2002. Also visit the world-acclaimed Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park
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The Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, a new performing arts centre at Marina Bay, features a 1,800-seat concert hall, a lyric theatre, outdoor performance spaces and an 8,000 square metre retail mall
Below are other interesting facts about Singapore that is fun to know.
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Singapore consists only of one main island and 63 other tiny islands. Most of these islands are uninhabited.
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Singapore is among the 20 smallest countries in the world, with a total land area of only 682.7 square kilometres. The USA is about 15,000 times bigger.
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Apart from Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world, with 6,430 people per square kilometre.
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Singapore became the 117th member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965.
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Symbolism of the National Flag: Red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of man while white signifies purity and virtue. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the rise and the five stars signify the ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.
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The national flower of Singapore, Vanda Miss Joaquim, was first discovered in 1893 by Agnes Joaquim, an Armenian. The orchid is a natural hybrid between V. teres and V. hookeriana.
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The Merlion, a half-fish, half-lion beast, is a fitting symbol of Singapore. The "Singa" or lion represents the animal that a Sumatran prince saw which resembled a lion, and the fish is a tribute to Singapore's history as "Temasek", the ancient sea town.
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Singlish, a Singaporean patois mixing English with the odd phrase of Chinese, Malay and even Tamil, has two entries - lah and sinseh - in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
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Although English is the official working language and the most widely used language in Singapore, the national anthem 'Majulah Singapura' is actually sung in Malay.
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The flying fox, the world's largest bat with a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres, can be found on Pulau Ubin, one of the islands off mainland Singapore.
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Singapore is a stopover point for thousands of migratory birds travelling the East Asian Flyway.
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The world's first night zoo, The Night Safari, is located in Singapore.
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Despite being largely urbanised, Singapore is the largest exporter of ornamental fish (25% of the world market).
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The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore contains more species of trees than the entire North American continent.
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The highest natural point in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, which is only 164 metres high (Singapore has a very flat terrain).
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Buildings in Singapore cannot be higher than 280 metres. There are presently three buildings of that height: OUB Centre, UOB Plaza and Republic Plaza.
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The world's highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 metres, is located at the Jurong BirdPark.
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The largest fountain in the world is located in Singapore at Suntec City. Made of cast bronze, it cost an estimated US$6 million to build in 1997.
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The buildings of Suntec City have been built in the shape of a palm of a hand symbolising good "feng shui".
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In 2003, Singapore's Changi Airport won the award for "Best Airport Worldwide" for the 16th consecutive year from the UK/Europe edition of the Business Traveller magazine.
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The Guinness book record for the longest human domino chain was set in Singapore on 30th September 2000. Formed by 9,234 students, it measured 4.2km.
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The world domino topple record (303,621 men) was set in Singapore on 18th August 2003 by a 24-year-old woman from China.
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The record for the biggest ever game of pass-the-parcel was set in Singapore on 28 February 1998. It involved 3,918 students removing 2,200 wrappers from a 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 m parcel.
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The record for the most number of people participating in line dancing was set in Singapore in May 2002 with 11,967 dancers.
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The Great Singapore Duck Race, an annual event that raises funds for charity, set a new world record in 2002 when more than 123,000 toy ducks took to the Singapore River.
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Russell Lee, a pseudonym for a team of ghost-writers, is the hottest-selling local author in Singapore. His 11 volumes of True Singapore Ghost Stories have sold more than 600,000 copies to date.
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The fastest selling book of all time in Singapore is Hello Chok Tong, Goodbye Kuan Yew: The Untold Story. Written and drawn by political cartoonist George Nonis, it sold 40,000 copies in two months.
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The highest grossing movie of all time in Singapore is Titanic, raking in S$6.65 million in 1997.
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The highest grossing locally made movie of all time is Money No Enough, raking in S$6.02 million in 1998.
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The first Singaporean film to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival was director Eric Khoo's 12 Storeys in 1997.
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British pop violinist Vanessa Mae Nicholson was born in Singapore and moved to England when she was four.
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More Singaporeans are born in the month of October than any other month of the year.
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The first population census taken in 1824 revealed that the total population was 10,683. The 2000 census showed that the population of Singapore is 4.2 million.
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Nearly 9 out of 10 Singaporeans live in public housing flats.
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The most common Chinese surnames in Singapore are Tan, Lim and Lee.
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Singapore has more than 3,000 kilometres of roads. Stretched end to end, they can cover the distance from Singapore to Hong Kong.
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8 in 10 people in Singapore own cell phones. In fact, telecom companies issue new numbers at the rate of 30,000 to 40,000 per month.
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Singapore's best showing in the Olympic Games ever was a silver medal won by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in Rome in 1960.
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Swimmer Ang Peng Siong was ranked world number one in the 50m Freestyle in 1982.
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The Singapore Sling was first served in 1915 at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel. The ingredients are gin, Cointreau, cherry brandy, Dom Benedictine, pineapple juice, Grenadine, Angoustura bitters and limes.
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