1. SINGAPORE

2. Singapore is a sovereign city-state andisland country in Southeast Asia. It liesoff the southern tip of the MalayPeninsula and is 137 kilometers (85 mi)north of the equator. The country'sterritory consists of the lozenge-shapedmain island, commonly referred to asSingapore Island in English and PulauUjong in Malay, and more than 60significantly smaller islets. 3. EtymologyGovernment and PoliticsGeography and ClimateEconomy 4. The English name of Singapore is derived fromthe Malay word Singapura, hence thecustomary reference to the nation as the LionCity. However, it is most likely that lions neverlived on the island, and the beast seen bySang Nila Utama, who founded and namedSingapore, was a tiger. 5. Singapore is a parliamentary republic with aWestminster system of unicameralparliamentary government representingconstituencies. The country's constitution establishes arepresentative democracy as the politicalsystem. Freedom House ranks Singapore as"partly free" in its Freedom in the Worldreport, and The Economist ranks Singapore asa "hybrid regime", the third best rank of four,in its "Democracy Index" 6. Executive power rests with the Cabinet of Singapore, ledby the Prime Minister and, to a much lesser extent, thePresident. The President is elected through a popular vote, and hasveto powers over a specific set of executive decisions,such as the use of the national reserves and theappointment of judges, but otherwise occupies a largelyceremonial post. The Parliament serves as the legislative branch of thegovernment. Members of Parliament (MPs) consist of elected, non-constituencyand nominated members. Elected MPs arevoted into the Parliament on a "first-past-the-post"(plurality) basis and represent either single-member orgroup-representation constituencies 7. Singapore's Parliament House 8. Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate with nodistinctive seasons, uniform temperature andpressure, high humidity, and abundant rainfall. Temperatures usually range from 22 to 35 C (72to 95 F). Relative humidity averages around 79%in the morning and 73% in the afternoon. April and May are the hottest months, with thewetter monsoon season from November toJanuary. From July to October, there is often hazecaused by bush fires in neighboring Indonesia. Although Singapore does not observe daylightsaving time, it follows the GMT+8 time zone, onehour ahead of the typical zone for its geographicallocation 9. The Port of Singapore, one of the world's five busiest,with the skyline of Singapore in the background 10. Singapore's economy depends heavily onexports and refining imported goods,especially in manufacturing, which constituted27.2% of the country's GDP in 2010, andincludes significant electronics, petroleumrefining, chemicals, mechanical engineeringand biomedical sciences sectors. In 2006, Singapore produced about 10% of theworld's foundry wafer output. Singapore has adiversified economy, a strategy that thegovernment considers vital for its growth andstability despite its size. 11. Singapore Skyline 12. Singapore is a world leader in severaleconomic areas: The country is the world's fourth leadingfinancial centre the world's second largest casino gamblingmarket one of the world's top three oil-refining centers the world's largest oil-rig producer, and a majorhub for ship repair services. It is also the world's fourth largest foreign-exchangetrading centre after London, NewYork City and Tokyo. 13. Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, the mostexpensive building in the world