求一份关于新加坡的介绍,一分钟多点就行,要英文的

Singapore (Chinese:新加坡; pinyin:Xīnjiāpō; Malay:Singapura; Tamil:சிங்கப்பூர்,Cingkappūr),officially the Republic of Singapore,is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula,lying 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator,south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands.At 710.2 km2 (274.2 sq mi),[6] Singapore,a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast Asia,is by orders of magnitude larger than Monaco,San Marino,Andorra and Vatican City,the only other surviving sovereign city-states.
Before European settlement,the island now known as Singapore was the site of a Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Singapore River.Several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people also lived along the nearby coast,rivers and on smaller islands.In 1819,the British East India Company,led by Sir Stamford Raffles,established a trading post on the island,which was used as a port along the spice route.[7] Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire,and the hub of British power in Southeast Asia.
During the Second World War,the British colony was occupied by the Japanese after the Battle of Singapore,which Winston Churchill called Britain's greatest defeat.[8] Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945,immediately after the war.Eighteen years later,in 1963,the city,having achieved independence from Britain,merged with Malaya,Sabah,and Sarawak to form Malaysia.However,the merger proved unsuccessful,and,less than two years later,it seceded from the federation and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations on August 9,1965.Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on September 21 of that year.
Since independence,Singapore's standard of living has risen dramatically.Foreign direct investment and a state-led drive to industrialization based on plans drawn up by the Dutch economist Albert Winsemius have created a modern economy focused on industry,education and urban planning.[9] Singapore is the 5th wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita.[10] In December 2008,the foreign exchange reserves of this small island nation stood at around US$174.2billion.[11] The Singapore government had for the first time in history tapped into her official reserves and withdrew some S$4.9 billion with the approval of the President.The funds were then used as part of the S$20.5 billion resilience package unveiled by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 5 February 2009.As of January 2009,Singapore's official reserves stands at US$170.3 billion.
In 2009,the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Singapore the tenth most expensive city in the world in which to live—the third in Asia,after Tokyo and Osaka.[12]
Singapore consists of 63 islands,including mainland Singapore.There are two man-made connections to Johor,Malaysia — Johor-Singapore Causeway in the north,and Tuas Second Link in the west.Jurong Island,Pulau Tekong,Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's many smaller islands.The highest natural point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill at 166 m (545 ft).[citation needed]
The south of Singapore,around the mouth of the Singapore River and what is now the Downtown Core,used to be the only concentrated urban area,while the rest of the land was either undeveloped tropical rainforest or used for agriculture.Since the 1960s,the government has constructed new residential towns in outlying areas,resulting in an entirely built-up urban landscape.The Urban Redevelopment Authority was established on 1 April 1974,responsible for urban planning.[citation needed]