The Government of Singapore
Overview
- Capital: Singapore (city-state)
- Administrative regions: No states/provinces; administratively divided into 5 Community Development Council districts
- Government & legal system: Parliamentary republic; common law system. (government site)
- Head of state / government: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President (largely ceremonial with limited reserve powers); Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister (head of government) (official page)
- Official language(s): English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil (four official languages; Malay is the national language)
- National Day: August 9 (National Day, 1965)
- Independence: August 9, 1965 (separation from Malaysia)
- Other official holidays: Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali, Vesak Day
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official site)
- Regional / international memberships: United Nations/ UN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations/ ASEAN, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation/ APEC, Commonwealth, World Trade Organization/ WTO
- Visa / entry requirements: Visa-free for many nationalities for short stays. (visa info)
- Currency: Singapore dollar (SGD) — the portrait of Yusof Ishak, Singapore’s first President, appears on all denominations, with national achievements and institutions depicted on the reverse.
- Flag symbolism: Horizontal red-white bicolor with a white crescent moon and five stars in the upper hoist canton — red represents universal brotherhood, white represents purity, the crescent represents a young nation, and the five stars represent democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality.
