Tropical; hot, humid, rainy; monsoons are expected from mid-November till early March and from mid-June till early September, heavy downpours are expected to be frequent during this period ; thunderstorms occur on 40% of all days (67% of days in April).

Total population is 5.31 million in June 2012. Today, the ethnic Chinese form 74.2% of the Singaporean population, with the country’s original inhabitants – the Malays, comprising of 13.4%. The Indians make up 9.2%, and Eurasians, Peranakans and others making up a combined 3.2%. Singapore is also home to many expatriates, with almost 20% of them made up of non-resident blue collar workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh. The rest of the expatriate population include white collar workers coming from countries as diverse as North America, Australia, Europe, China and India.

http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/london/visa_information/overview.html

Singapore’s main territory is a diamond-shaped island, although its territory includes surrounding smaller islands. Most of Singapore is no more than 15 meters above sea level. Singapore is located at the southern tip of the Malayan Peninsular between Malaysia and Indonesia, and has a total land area of 714.3 square kilometers (275.8 square miles).

Religion in Singapore is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices due to its diverse ethnic mix of peoples originating from various countries. Buddhism is the most widely practiced religion in Singapore, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next-most practiced religion is Christianity followed by Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism. 17% of the population did not have a religious affiliation. The proportion of Christians, Taoists, and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3% each, whilst the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population.

In 1959, the growth of nationalism led to self-government, and the country’s first general election. In 1961, Singapore joined Malaya and merged with the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo to form Malaysia in 1963. However, the merger proved unsuccessful, and less than two years later on 9 August 1965, Singapore left Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign democratic nation. On 22 December that year, Singapore finally became an independent republic.