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}}.

Transport

Singapore is a major transport hub in Asia and its history has been closely tied to the growth of its transport industry since its infancy. The transport industry contributes over 10% of gross domestic product despite an increasingly diversified economy.

Related Topics:
Gross domestic product - Economy

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The Port of Singapore, managed by port operators PSA International and Jurong Port, is the world's busiest in terms of shipping tonnage handled. 1.04 billion gross tons were handled in the year 2004, crossing the one billion mark for the first time in Singapore's maritime history. Singapore also emerged as the top port in terms of cargo tonnage handled with 393 million tonnes of cargo in 2004, pipping the port in Rotterdam for the first time. Singapore is ranked second globally in terms of containerised traffic with 21.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units handled in 2004, and retains her position as the world's busiest hub for transhipment traffic. She is also the world's biggest bunkering hub with 23.6 million tonnes of bunkers sold in 2004.

Related Topics:
Port of Singapore - PSA International - Jurong Port - 2004 - Rotterdam - Containerised

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Singapore is a major aviation hub and is an important stopover point for the "Kangaroo route" between Australasia and Europe. Singapore Changi Airport has a network of 77 airlines connecting Singapore to 178 cities in 56 countries. It is one of the top five airports in Asia in terms of passengers handled, with 30 million passengers passing through in 2004. It has been consistently rated as one of the best international airports by numerous international travel magazines {{ref|BestAirport}}. National carrier Singapore Airlines has also received several accolades internationally and is renowned for the image of the 'Singapore Girl', where air stewardesses are clad in traditional dress (Sarong Kebaya) while serving passengers. It will also be the first airline in the world to fly the new Airbus A380 commericially. In anticipation of rising demand in both the regular and low-cost sectors, a third passenger terminal and a low-cost terminal are currently under construction. These will increase the airport's total capacity to 66.7 million passengers annually by 2008.

Related Topics:
Kangaroo route - Australasia - Europe - Singapore Changi Airport - Asia - 2004 - Singapore Airlines - Low-cost - 2008

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Domestic transport infrastructure is relatively efficient, and includes the heavy rail passenger Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, the North-East Line, an autopilot extension of the MRT, the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system, an extensive expressway and road system and a nationwide system of taxis and buses. The EZ-Link system allows, contactless smartcards to be used as stored value tickets for use in the public transport systems, and improves the convenience of the systems. Vehicles are subject to toll by an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system during hours of heavy road traffic to regulate road usage. Recently, there have been complaints of rising public transport fares but the government asserts that this is due to the increase in global oil prices. Currently, fares are capped at $1.90 (~US$1.10) per ride.

Related Topics:
Mass Rapid Transit - Light Rapid Transit - EZ-Link - Smartcards - Ticket - Electronic Road Pricing

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