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Singapore is a small, heavily urbanized, island city-state in Southeast Asia, located between Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore has a total land area of 697.1 km2 and 193km of coastline. It is separated from Indonesia by the Singapore Strait and from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor.
Singapore's main territory is a diamond-shaped island which is connected to the city of Johor Bahru in the state of Johor, Malaysia by a man-made causeway for both rail and road traffic in the north of Singapore. There is also a bridge (Tuas Second Link) in the western part of Singapore connecting to Johor, for road traffic only.
The causeway (1038 m) was designed by Coode, Fizmaurice, Wilson and Mitchell of Westminster and constructed by Topham, Jones & Railton Ltd of London. It started in 1909 as a railway link by Johor State Railway to connect Johor Bahru to Singapore, then the administrative headquarters of British interests in South-East Asia. Construction of the road section started in 1919 and completed in 1923.
Singapore has rejected Malaysia's proposal to replace the Causeway by a bridge, after which Malaysia came up with the idea of what became known as "the crooked half-bridge", descending halfway to link up with the low-level causeway.
Singapore also has dozens of smaller islands, of which Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the larger ones. The highest point of Singapore is Bukit Timah, with a height of 164 m or 538 feet.
When Singapore was first colonized by the British, the city of Singapore was situated on the southern coast, around the mouth of the Singapore River. This area remains the downtown core of Singapore. The rest of the island was farmland and jungle. However, since the 1960s the government has constructed many new towns in other areas, so that today the island is nearly entirely built-up, with only a few exceptions. In addition, Singapore has reclaimed land with earth obtained from its own hills, the seabed, and neighbouring countries. As a result, Singapore's land area grew from 581.5km² in the 1960s to 697.1km² today, and may grow by another 100km² by 2030.
Geographic coordinates: 1°17'35"N, 103°51'20"E
exclusive fishing zone: within and beyond territorial sea, as defined in treaties and practice
territorial sea: 3 nautical miles
Climate: equatorial; hot, humid, rainy; no pronounced rainy or dry seasons; thunderstorms occur on 40% of all days (67% of days in April)
Terrain: lowland; gently undulating central plateau contains water catchment area and nature preserve
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Singapore Strait 0 m
highest point: Bukit Timah 164 m
Natural resources: fish, deepwater ports
Land use:
arable land: 2%
permanent crops: 6%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 87% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA km2
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: industrial pollution; limited natural fresh water resources; limited land availability presents waste disposal problems; seasonal smoke/haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: focal point for Southeast Asian sea routes
See also
Partial map
External links
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