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Singapore.
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SINGAPORE (officially the Republic of Singapore), is a sovereign city-state and island country in Southeast Asia. Area - 715,8 sq.km. Population - 5 312 400 (2012) Capital - Singapore Temasek, a second century outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire, is the earliest known settlement on Singapore. The island was part of the Sri Vijaya Empire until it was invaded by the south Indian Emperor Rajendra Chola I, of the Chola Empire, in the 11th century. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries. Nominally, it belonged to the Johor Sultanate during this period. In 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived and signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor, on behalf of the British East India Company, to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post. In 1824, the entire island became a British possession under a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, becoming the regional capital in 1836. During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded British Malaya, culminating in the Battle of Singapore. The British were defeated, surrendering on 15 February 1942. The Japanese occupied Singapore until the British repossessed it in September 1945, after the Surrender of Japan. During the May 1959 elections, the People's Action Party won a landslide victory. Singapore became an internally self-governing state within the Commonwealth and Lee Kuan Yew became the country's first Prime Minister. On 31 August 1963, Singapore declared independence from the United Kingdom, and joined with the Federation of Malaya, the Crown Colony of Sarawak and Crown Colony of North Borneo to form the new Federation of Malaysia as the result of the 1962 Merger Referendum. The Malaysian Parliament blocked many progressive bills, bringing Singapore's economic and social development to a halt. Race riots broke out in Singapore in 1964. After much heated ideological conflicts between the two governments, in 1965, the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to expel Singapore from Malaysia. Singapore gained independence as the Republic of Singapore (remaining within the Commonwealth) on 9 August 1965. Currency : Singaporean dollar (SGD).
