Singapore is the world’s only island city state. It consists of 63 islands that together form a global city, and a sovereign state.
The island nation of the Republic of Singapore lies one degree north of the Equator in Southern Asia. Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 as a trading post of the British East India Company.
After the company collapsed, the British Government took over. Singapore became independent in 1963. Though physically small, Singapore is an economic giant. It has been Southeast Asia’s most modern city for over a century.
Singapore existed even before the founding of the trading post. According to local history, it was founded in 1324 by Sang Nila Utama, a Srivijayan prince from Palembang, or present day Indonesia.
While hunting in the island of Temasek, he saw a strange animal with an orange body and black head. He was told that it probably was a lion. Believing it to be a good omen, he founded the city, and named it Singapura, which means Lion City.