Singapore

Geography
Singapore contains the main island and some smaller islands. Singapore is an island south of the Malay Peninsula. The nearest oceans are the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The country is of total area, 719.1 sq km (277.6 sq mi).

History
Chinese and Indians migrated to the island from 2500 B.C. - 1500 B.C. The British grew interest in the country due to its spices brought from the migrators and the trading post of Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Singapore attained full internal self-government in 1959, and Lee Kuan Yew, a well educated poltician, took the helm as prime minister. On Sept. 16, 1963, Singapore joined Malaysia, Sabah (North Borneo), and Sarawak in the Federation of Malaysia. It resigned and became an independent country in 1965 as Lee Kuan Yew as the prime minister and Yusof bin Ishak as the first president of Singapore.

Under Lee's control, the country became a safe, clean and successful country. But in 1994, Micheal P. Fay, a teen from the United States traveled to Singapore and vandalized many cars. He got four canings, four months in jail and a fine of 3,500 Singapore dollars. Lee Kuan Yew became Senior Minister after Goh Chok Tong became prime minister. The current Prime Minister is Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Kuan Yew's son. The current president is Halimah Yacob.