Singapore, in it’s past, has been known under many different names; the Chinese used to refer to this small island as ‘Pu-luo-chung’ (‘island at the end of a peninsula’), the Mongolians once referred to it as ‘Long Yamen’ (‘Dragon’s Tooth Strait’) and the Javanese as ‘Temasek’ (‘Sea Town’). The end of the 14^th century saw ‘Singapura’ ('Lion City’) become commonly used which led to ‘Singapore’ as we now know it.

Back in 1819 Singapore was little more than a swamp land and dense jungle when Sir Stamford Raffles landed and claimed the island for the British East India Company. The human population of the island consisted of only a few fishermen at that time. By the early 1900’s the population had exploded to a quarter of a million people, drawn from many of the surrounding countries by the extensive trading activities taking place in this the hub of South East Asia.

After World War II, when the Japanese ruled until 1945, Singapore initially became a British Colony then gained independence as part of the Malayan Federation in 1959. Singapore broke away from the Federation and became an independent Republic in 1965.

Singapore has a colourful, multicultural society and is a wonderful mix of old and new; beautifully restored shop houses contrast dramatically with modern skyscrapers, traditional trishaws mingle with Mercedes and old fishing boats float with the cruise liners in the Straits of Singapore. It’s current population is around 3 million, originating from mainly China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India; there are currently more than 7 million visitors each year.

"Temperatures today will range between 24 and 32 degrees, with the chance of rain in the afternoon in some areas."

The weather in Singapore is never much of a surprise, being very near to the equator. The average daily temperature is 26.7º C, but even at nights the temperature rarely goes below 22º C. Rain falls on and off throughout the year, though November to January often experience the heaviest rainfalls. The downfall of 365 days of summer is that it tends to be humid, with the relative humidity often exceeding 90 per cent at night.

Singapore falls in the middle of the local monsoon seasons, with the North East Monsoon season being December to March and the South West Monsoon season falling between June and September. As a result you’ll experience some fantastic thunderstorms during the inter-monsoon months of April-May and October-November.

The Republic of Singapore is about 137 kilometres north of the equator, which goes some way to explaining the weather. The country consists of the main island, which is 42 kilometres from side to side and 23 kilometres top to bottom, and around 60 small ones; the total land area of the whole lot is just over 640 square kilometres.

Singapore is relatively flat, with the majority of the island being within 15 metres of sea level and the highest peak being just 163 metres high.

TLA's

Confused? Singapore is full of Three Letter Acronyms which can be very confusing as a new-comer.  In fact they're confusing enough for the old timers!  Here are a few you can practice so that you feel more part of the crowd, or at least have some hope of understanding what everyone's talking about: