Singapore (known variously as the "Lion City," or "Garden City," the latter for its many parks and tree-lined streets) has been called "instant Asia" because it offers the tourist an expeditious glimpse into the cultures brought to it by immigrants from all parts of Asia. While predominantly Chinese, it has substantial minorities of Malays and Indians.

According to Malay tradition the island was visited by a prince who came from the Sumatran empire of Srivijaya, who founded and named the city of Singapura. Portuguese records also have it that the city was founded by a Srivijayan prince from Palembang. Sacked by the Majapahit Javanese during the 14th century, it was supplanted by Malacca (Melaka) but remained a port of call. Its modern history began with the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company, who, in searching for a trading site, landed there on Jan. 29, 1819. The port's growth was steady, and opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of steamships increased its importance as a bunkering station. Its growth was assured by the demand for the tin and rubber of the Malay Peninsula, for which the port was a natural shipping outlet.

Created a city by royal charter in 1951, Singapore was administered as a municipality by an elected mayor-council government from 1957 until 1959, when the colony became self-governing. After 1963 the administration of the city and rural areas was handled by the central government.

Modern housing estates have cut into some of the city's traditional cultural enclaves, particularly the Chinese quarter. Skyscraper hotels and office buildings now blend with the British colonial architecture, Chinese shop-houses, and Malay kampongs (villages once thatch-roofed, now tin-roofed).