Established as a trading port by the British in the early 19th century, Singapore became a centre of British influence in Southeast Asia. Singapore is now a republic, upon achieving independence Singapore rapidly developed into a successful free-market economy with one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. Singapore is also the fourth largest foreign exchange trading centre in the world after London, New York and Tokyo. The land area of the state is 697,2 sq. km. Its population was 3.263.000 (in 2000), the ethnic composition was Chinese (76,8%), Malays (13,9%), Indians (7,9%) and Others (1,4%). The religions are Buddhism/Taoism (51%), Islam (14,9%), Christianity (14,6%), Hinduism (4,0%) Other religions (0,6%). No Religion (14,8%). Singapore consists of 63 islands, including the main island itself. Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate with no distinct seasons, its climate is characterised by uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity (90% in the morning and 60% in the afternoon) and abundant rainfall.

Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. In 2005, 8.9 million tourists visited Singapore. Orchard Road district, which is dominated by multi-storey shopping centres and hotels, is the centre of tourism in Singapore, other tourist attractions are the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari; the tourist island of Sentosa; the Jurong Bird Park; the Singapore Botanical Gardens that includes the National Orchid collection with over 3000 types of orchids; the historical Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. The cultural diversity that reflects its colonial history and Chinese, Malay, Indian and Arab ethnicities is another important attraction, the cuisine of Singapore is a prime example of the ethnic diversity of the culture of Singapore. The government organises the Singapore Food Festival in July annually to celebrate Singapore's cuisine. There are also several interesting museums in Singapore: The National Museum of Singapore (the museum focuses on exhibits related to the history of Singapore), the Asian Civilisations Museums at Empress Place Building and Old Tao Nan School (the museum specialises in the history of China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia), and the Singapore Art Museum (Singaporean and Southeast Asian visual artworks).

HOTELS IN SINGAPORE

 

FLIGHT INFORMATION: Singapore is served by the Singapore Changi Airport that is a major aviation hub in Asia, particularly in the Southeast Asian region, and is the main stop-over point for the Australian route. In 2005, the airport handled a record of 32,430,000 passengers, this made it the 26th busiest airport in the world and the sixth busiest in Asia by passenger traffic. The following are the airlines that serve Singapore Changi Airport:

Terminal 1: Adam Air (Jakarta), AirAsia Thai AirAsia (Bangkok), Air China (Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xiamen), Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle), Air Hong Kong (Hong Kong), Air India (Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai), Air-India Express (Chennai), Air Mauritius (Kuala Lumpur, Mauritius), Air Niugini (Port Moresby), Air Sahara (Delhi), Air Seychelles (Mahé), Air Zimbabwe (Beijing, Harare), All Nippon Airways (Tokyo-Narita), Asiana Airlines (Seoul-Incheon), Bangkok Airways (Koh Samui), Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Bangkok, Dhaka), British Airways (London-Heathrow, Sydney), Cathay Pacific (Bangkok, Colombo, Hong Kong), China Airlines (Kaohsiung, Taipei- Taoyuan), China Eastern Airlines (Kunming, Shanghai-Pudong), China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou), Emirates (Auckland, Brisbane, Colombo, Dubai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne), EVA Air (Taipei- Taoyuan), Finnair (Bangkok, Helsinki), Garuda Indonesia (Balikpapan, Beijing, Denpasar, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Makassar, Padang, Pekanbaru, Semarang, Shanghai-Pudong, Surabaya, Yogyakarta), Gulf Air (Bahrain, Sydney), Indian (Bangalore, Bangkok, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune), Japan Airlines (Kuala Lumpur, Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Narita) Jet Airways (Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi), Jetstar Asia Airways (Bangalore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Siem Reap, Taipei- Taoyuan, Yangon), Valuair (Denpasar, Jakarta, Surabaya), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam), Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon), Merpati Nusantara Airlines (Bandung), Northwest Airlines (Portland (OR), Tokyo-Narita), Lion Air (Jakarta), Pakistan International Airlines (Islamabad, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur), Republic Express Airlines (Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya), Qantas (Adelaide, Brisbane, Denpasar, Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney), Jetstar Airways operated by Jetstar Asia Airways (Cairns, Darwin), Qatar Airways (Doha), Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jakarta, Jeddah, Riyadh), Shandong Airlines (Jinan, Shenzhen), Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong), SriLankan Airlines (Colombo, Kuala Lumpur), Swiss International Air Lines (Bangkok, Zürich), Thai Airways International (Bangkok), Transaero (Bangkok, Denpasar, Moscow-Domodedovo), Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk), United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Tokyo-Narita, Washington-Dulles), Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City), Xiamen Airlines (Fuzhou, Penang, Xiamen), Yangtze River Express (Nanning, Shanghai-Pudong),

Terminal 2: Lufthansa (Frankfurt, Jakarta), Malaysia Airlines (Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Langkawi, Penang), Philippine Airlines (Jakarta, Manila), Royal Brunei (Bandar Seri Begawan), Singapore Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Adelaide, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Amsterdam, Athens, Auckland, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangalore, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Brisbane, Cairo, Cape Town, Chennai, Christchurch, Colombo, Copenhagen, Denpasar, Delhi, Dhaka, Dubai, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jakarta, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Karachi, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Malé, Manchester (UK), Manila, Melbourne, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo, Mumbai, Nagoya-Centrair, Nanjing, New York-JFK, Newark, Osaka-Kansai, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Penang, Perth, Rome-Fiumicino, San Francisco, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Sydney, Taipei- Taoyuan, Tokyo-Narita, Vancouver, Zürich), Silkair (Balikpapan, Cebu, Chengdu, Chiang Mai, Chongqing, Danang, Davao, Kochi, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Kunming, Langkawi, Lombok, Manado, Medan, Palembang, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Shenzhen, Siem Reap, Solo, Surabaya, Thiruvanathapuram, Xiamen, Yangon).