In 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles Arrived And Signed A Treaty With Sultan Hussein Shah Of Johor, On Behalf Of The British East India Company, To Develop The Southern Part Of Singapore As A British Trading Post. In 1824, The Entire Island Became A British Possession Under A Further Treaty With The Sultan, As Well As The Temenggong In 1826, Singapore Became Part Of The Straits Settlements, Under The Jurisdiction Of British India, Becoming The Regional Capital In 1836. Prior To Raffles' Arrival, There Were Approximately 1,000 People Living On The Island, Mostly Indigenous Malays Along With A Handful Of Chinese By 1860,

Singapore Has A Tropical Rainforest Climate  With No Distinctive Seasons, Uniform Temperature And Pressure, High Humidity, And Abundant Rainfall. Temperatures Usually Range From 22 To 35 °C (72 To 95 °F). Relative Humidity Averages Around 79% In The Morning And 73% In The Afternoon. April And May Are The Hottest Months,

Singapore Is A Parliamentary Republic With A Westminster System Of Unicameral Parliamentary Government Representing Constituencies. The Country's Constitution Establishes A Representative Democracy As The Political System. Freedom House Ranks Singapore As "Partly Free" In Its Freedom In The World Report And The Economist Ranks Singapore As A "Hybrid Regime", The Third Best Rank Of Four, In Its "Democracy Index"

Singapore Is The 14th Largest Exporter And The 15th Largest Importer In The World. The Country Has The Highest Trade-To-GDP Ratio In The World At 407.9 Percent, Signifying The Importance Of Trade To Its Economy. The Country Is Currently The Only Asian Country To Receive AAA Credit Ratings From All Three Major Credit Rating Agencies

In 2009, The Government Census Reports That 74.2% Of Residents Were Of Chinese, 13.4% Of Malay, And 9.2% Of Indian Descent, While Eurasians And Other Groups Made Up 3.2%. Prior To 2010, Each Person Could Register As A Member Of Only One Raceurts.

Buddhism Is The Most Widely Practiced Religion In Singapore, With 33% Of The Resident Population Declaring Themselves Adherents At The Most Recent Census. The Next-Most Practiced Religion Is Christianity, Followed By Islam, Taoism, And Hinduism.

Singapore Has Four Official Languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, And Tamil.

Singapore, As A Country, In General Is Conservative Socially, But Some Liberalisation Has Occurred. At The National Level, Meritocracy, Where One Is Judged Based On One's Ability, Is Heavily Emphasised.

Companies Linked To The Government Control Much Of The Domestic Media In Singapore. Media Corp Operates Most Free-To-Air Television Channels And Free-To-Air Radio Stations In Singapore. There Are A Total Of Seven Free-To-Air TV Channels Offered By Media Corp.

Since Singapore Is A Small Island With A High Population Density, The Number Of Private Cars On The Road Is Restricted So As To Curb Pollution And Congestion. Car Buyers Must Pay For Duties One-And-A-Half Times The Vehicle's Market Value, And Bid For A Singaporean Certificate Of Entitlement (COE), Which Allows The Car To Run On The Road For A Decade.

Nawaloka Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd,
No. 73,
Sir James Peiris Mawatha,
Colombo 2

+94 115 577 300

+94 112 430 393

jd@sgmfa.gov.sg