Singapore

The Republic of Singapore (Simplified Chinese: ??????; Pinyin: X?nji?p? Gònghéguó, Malay: Republik Singapura; Tamil: ??????????? ????????), is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of the Indonesian Riau Islands. Its coordinates are {{coor dm|1|17.583|N|103|51.333|E|region:SG_type:city(4425720)}}, just 137 km north of the Equator. The name Singapore was derived from Malay word singa (lion), which itself is derived from the Sanskrit word ???? siMha of the same meaning, and the Sanskrit word ??? pura (city) {{ref|sanskrit}}.

Demographics

:{{main2|Demographics of Singapore|Religion in Singapore}}

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Singapore is the second most densely populated independent country in the world. Eighty-four percent of Singaporeans live in public housing provided by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

Related Topics:
Second most densely populated independent country in the world - Public housing - Housing and Development Board

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Singapore's population, though small at 4.42 million as of July 2005, is relatively diverse compared to most other countries, although neighbour Malaysia also features a multiracial population. The Chinese, who have constituted the majority of the island population since the colonial days, account for 76.8 percent of Singaporeans. Malays, who are the indigenous native group of the country, constitute 13.9 percent, though this number includes many Malay ethnic groups from other parts of the Malay archipelago including the Javanese, Bugis, Baweans and Minangs. Indians are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9 percent, consisting of several groups—Tamils, who form the largest Indian group, and others such as Malayalees, Punjabis and Bengalis. The rest are made up of smaller groups such as Arabs, Jews, Thais, Japanese, and the Eurasian community.

Related Topics:
July - 2005 - Malaysia - Multiracial - Chinese - Malays - Malay archipelago - Javanese - Bugis - Baweans - Minangs - Indians - Tamils - Malayalee - Punjabis - Bengal - Arabs - Eurasian

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Singapore is generally a multi-religious country, mainly due to its strategic location and the variety of religious beliefs that most Singaporeans hold. More than 40 percent of the Singaporeans adhere to Mahayana Buddhism, the main faith of the Chinese population. Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and ancestral worship are merged into one by most Chinese adherents to Buddhism. Most Muslims are Malay but there are adherents among all races. Christianity in Singapore consists of Roman Catholicism and various denominations and its numbers hover at around 14% of the population.

Related Topics:
Mahayana Buddhism - Chinese - Taoism - Confucianism - Buddhism - Muslims - Christianity

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The government of Singapore has been careful to maintain ethnic harmony after racial riots erupted in the 1960s. Racial harmony has been emphasized in all aspects of society, including education, military and housing. So far the policy has been largely successful, and there have been few signs of ethnic tension since the early 1970s. Current issues include the ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf in public schools.

Related Topics:
Racial riots - 1960s - Education - 1970s - Headscarf

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The national language of Singapore is Malay for historical reasons, and it is used in the national anthem. The official languages are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. English has been promoted as the country's language of administration since independence, and it is spoken by the majority of the population, although with concurrent Speak Mandarin Campaigns, most public signs, advertising and print media tend to be in English and Chinese only.

Related Topics:
Malay - National anthem - English - Mandarin - Tamil - Speak Mandarin Campaign

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To promote Chinese culture and the use of Mandarin among the Chinese, the government has introduced a Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC). Historically, the Chinese immigrants often did not understand each other, having migrated from different parts of China, and were linguistically isolated into "dialects" such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hokchia, Teochew, Hakka, Hokchiu and Hainanese. Malay was thus often used at that time as a common language. During the Speak Mandarin campaign however, Mandarin became a unifying factor at the cost of usage of Malay among the younger generation. Recently, there has been a "Speak Bahasa Melayu" campaign.

Related Topics:
Speak Mandarin Campaign - China - "dialects" - Hokkien - Cantonese - Teochew - Hakka - Hokchiu - Hainanese

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