It's name is the anglicaisation of the Malay name - "Sinagapura" ( which itself is derived from Sanskrit) meaning "Lion City." It is the world's only island city-state.
The Merlion" (half lion and half fish) is the symbol for Singapore. The fish body represents the city's origin as a fishing village and the lions head represents Singapore's original name - Singapura.
In 1299, the Kingdom of Singapura was established as a trading post city and was inhabited by less than one thousand people. A little over five hundred years later (1819), Stanford Ruffles founded colonial Singapore as a trading post for the East India Company. By 1826, it officially became part Britain's empire.
Because of the growing impact of the rubber industry on the island, by 1860 population growth exceeded 80,000. In 1963, Singapore aligned itself with several other nearby countries in order to form the independent nation of Malaysia. However, because of strong ideological differences with the other nations of this federation, Singapore was expelled to become solely independent.
Considered to be one of the most technology-ready nations in the world, Singapore has four official languages - Malay (from Malaysia); Mandarin (from China); Tamil (from India); and English. It now functions as a global financial center and has one of the largest oil refinery programs in Asia. We are truly looking forward to our stay here.