President: Tony Tan Prime minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Population
313,847,465
5,353,494
Life Expectancy
78.490 years
83.750 years
Capital City
Washington, DC
Singapore
Largest city
New York City (population: 8,008,280)
Singapore (population: 3,547,810)
Human Development Index
0.95
0.918
GDP per capita
$49,000 US
$60,500 US
Literacy Rate
99%
92.5%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3
9.2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.6%
24.5%
Wealthiest Citizens
William Gates III ($40.0bn US)
Ng Teng Fong & family ($5.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.000%
2.000%
Death Penalty
Legal
Legal
Political System
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
parliamentary republic
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
9 August 1965 (from Malaysian Federation)
Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)
Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census)
machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, mineral fuels
External Debt
$14,710,000,000,000 $
$23,580,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Singapore dollars (SGD) per US dollar - 1.415 (2008 est.), 1.507 (2007), 1.5889 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
4.060%
4.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
110
1
Location
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
Area
9,826,675 km sq
697 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
193 km
Climate
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon (December to March) and Southwestern monsoon (June to September); inter-monsoon - frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms
