The small, yet stunning, state in summary

Singapore's Geography

The Republic of Singapore is a tiny-but-mighty island nation located in Southeast Asia on the southern tip of the Malay peninsula. Singapore consists of one main island -- Pulau Ujong, or Singapore Island-- although it is surrounded by 62 smaller ones that have various purposes, although remain almost entirely uninhabited. Nearby, Malaysia lies to the north and to the south is Indonesia. 

From Colonial Founding to Modern Sovereignty

Modern Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 for Britain, and he is widely recognized throughout Singapore, even having several statues in his honor. During World War II, the nation was occupied by Japan and in 1963 Singapore left the United Kingdom to form Malaysia with several other former British colonies. A short two years later, Singapore broke off one final time to become the sovereign nation it is today.

The Global Stance of Singapore

Singapore is a global center of commerce, economy, and transport. Singapore is extremely significant on an international scale. It has been ranked as the most technology-ready nation, the top city for international meetings, the city with best investment potential, the world's smartest city, the safest country in the world, the third-most competitive country, the third-largest foreign exchange market, the third-largest financial center, the third-largest oil refining and trading center, and the second-busiest container port. 

The United Nations has ranked Singapore 5th in the Human Development Index (HDI), with a stunning HDI of 0.925. Singapore also has the 3rd highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Along with this, Singapore is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing. Due to the visa-free and visa-on-arrival access to 180 countries and territories that Singaporean citizens have, the Singaporean passport is considered the best in the world. Singapore's residents also do very well with housing -- 90% of all homes are owner-occupied. Singapore has four official languages: English (the primarily spoken language), Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil and practically every Singaporean is bilingual, if not able to speak more than two languages.

Government and Leaders

The nation runs as a unitary multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. In many ways, Singapore's government is modeled after that of the United Kingdom and is part of the Commonwealth. Singapore, being a geographically and populationally small country, has a strong federal government. As established by the Singaporean constitution, the political system is considered a representative democracy. The nation's executive power rests with the cabinet of Singapore, led by the Prime Minister and the President. Currently, the Prime Minister is Lee Hsien Loong, who has been serving as Singapore's third prime minister since 2004. Halimah Yacob is the first female President of Singapore, elected in 2017, although Presidents generally serve more as figureheads, with limited veto power. 

Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the world's least corrupt nations. Its unique attribute of having a strong, supportive central government that emphasizes meritocracy and good governance is widely considered the key to Singapore's political stability, economic growth, and harmonious social order.  Singapore has also received top rankings in the areas of order and security, absence of corruption, and effective criminal justice. The legislative branch of government, the Singapore parliament, consists of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected, non-constituency, or nominated. The elected MPs allow for proper representation of the people's political beliefs and ideals. Non-constituency members help strengthen checks and balances in the system and ensure opposition, plus new and differing ideas. The nominated MPs act as neutral, non-partisan members of the Parliament. Singapore's judiciary system is also one of the most effective in the world, relying heavily on qualified, impartial judges.