Singaporeis aglobal cityand sovereign state inSoutheast Asia

and the world's onlyislandcity-state. It liesone degree(137km)

north of theequator, south of the southernmost tip of
continental Asiaandpeninsular Malaysia, withIndonesia's
Riau Islandsto the south. Singapore's territory consists of a
diamond-shaped main islandalong with62 other islets.
Singapore has a highly developedmarket economy, based
historically on extendedentrepttrade. Along withHong Kong,
South Korea, andTaiwan, Singapore is one of the original Four
Asian Tigers, but has surpassed its peers in terms of GDP per
capita. Between 1965 and 1995, growth rates averaged around 6
per cent per annum, transforming the living standards of the
population.[1]The Singaporean economy is known as one of the
freest,[2]most innovative,[3]most competitive,[4]most dynamic[5]
and most business-friendly.[6]The
2015 Index of Economic Freedomranks Singapore as the second
freest economy in the world and theEase of Doing Business Index
has also ranked Singapore as the easiest place to do business for
the past decade.[7]According to theCorruption Perceptions Index,
Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt
countries in the world, along withNew Zealandand the
Scandinaviancountries