Singapore

The city is in the south of the island.

Old buildings by the Singapore River have been fixed up. The Botanic Gardens have special heritage trees and a patch of rainforest. Big ships come and go from the port.

The city grew in the south of the island, along the Singapore River, where the older parts have been carefully restored. New towns such as Woodlands, Tampines and Yishun are spread across the island, with tall housing blocks, shops and offices. Tampines has the most residents of any planning area, about 296,000 in 2026.

The Singapore Botanic Gardens were started in 1859 and are a World Heritage Site. Scientists there helped spread rubber trees to plantations across Southeast Asia. In Jurong, a bridge links a Japanese garden and a Chinese garden.

The city of Singapore occupies the south of the main island, and urbanization has blurred the line between city and countryside. The older districts, especially along the Singapore River, have been substantially refurbished, while the Housing and Development Board built new towns such as Woodlands, Tampines and Yishun across the island. In 2026 more than half (51.7 percent) of residents lived in nine of the 55 planning areas, with Tampines the largest at 296,060.

The Singapore Botanic Gardens, created in 1859 and inscribed by UNESCO in 2015, is described as an outstanding example of a British tropical colonial botanic garden. Since 1875 it has been a center for plant research; seedlings first sent from Kew were planted and distributed from Singapore, contributing significantly to the expansion of plantation rubber in the 20th century. The property holds 44 heritage trees. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, an era of prosperity led to 5 km of wharves at Tanjong Pagar, and the industrial West's demand for tin and rubber made Singapore one of the greatest ports in the world.

Most of Singapore is low and flat.

It is hot and rainy all year. It rains somewhere on the island every day! The highest hill is Bukit Timah Hill. A rainforest grows on it.

Nearly two-thirds of the main island is less than 15 meters above sea level. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill, 163 meters tall, in the center of the island, where hills of granite rock rise.

Singapore lies in the equatorial monsoon region, where temperatures stay high all year: average monthly temperatures are about 25 to 27 °C. It rains somewhere on the island every day. The wettest and windiest months come with the northeast monsoon, from November to March. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve protects one of Singapore's few primary rainforests, forest that has never been cleared.

Nearly two-thirds of Singapore Island lies below 15 m. Its central hills, including Bukit Timah, are formed from granite; the western and southern scarps from folded and faulted sedimentary rock; and the eastern plateau from loose sands and gravels. NParks gives Bukit Timah Hill as 163 m, the highest natural point.

The climate is equatorial monsoonal: monthly averages range from about 25 °C in January to 27 °C in June, and the highest temperature on record is 36 °C. The northeast monsoon (November to March) is wettest, with December averaging more than 250 mm; the southwest monsoon (May to September) brings the least rain, and April and October bring intense afternoon thunderstorms. Annual rainfall averages about 2,400 mm. Little of the original forest remains, apart from rainforest around water catchment areas and mangroves at Kranji; Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, 163 hectares, is one of two ASEAN Heritage Parks in the country.

Monkeys called macaques live in Singapore.

A furry animal called a colugo glides from tree to tree. Birds called kites live near people. Coral reefs grow around the coast.

The largest wild animals native to Singapore are the long-tailed macaque, a monkey, the slow loris, with its big eyes, and the pangolin, covered in scales. In Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the Malayan colugo stretches out a wide flap of skin to glide between trees, and the greater racket-tailed drongo, a glossy black bird, has two long tail feathers with rackets at the tips.

A bridge for wildlife lets animals cross safely between Bukit Timah and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Coral reefs fringe many parts of the coast.

Britannica names the long-tailed macaque, the slow loris and the pangolin (scaly anteater) as the largest native animals. Birds that live closely with people, such as the brahminy kite, the Indian myna and the house swallow, are numerous, and fringing coral reefs with their fish occur around many parts of the coast. Many exotic plants have been introduced for ornament, and Singapore is a major exporter of orchids and aquarium fish.

NParks highlights the Malayan colugo, a gray or reddish brown mammal with an extensive skin membrane for gliding, and the greater racket-tailed drongo in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, which holds a high percentage of Singapore's plant, animal and insect life. A Sereya tree there stands about 60 m tall. Wildlife can cross between Bukit Timah and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve over Southeast Asia's first ecological bridge.

About 6 million people lived in Singapore in 2026.

People speak English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. Many families live in tall apartment blocks. Friends and families share meals at food centers called hawker centers.

Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil. English is the main language of schools and business, and Malay is the national language. Among residents, about 74 percent are Chinese, 13.5 percent Malay and 9 percent Indian, and others make up the rest.

About three in four residents live in apartments built by the Housing and Development Board. Many people eat at hawker centers, food centers where hawkers cook Chinese, Malay, Indian and other dishes, and people from all backgrounds sit down together. UNESCO added hawker culture to its heritage list in 2020.

Resident Singapore was 73.9 percent Chinese, 13.5 percent Malay, 9.0 percent Indian and 3.6 percent Others at end-June 2026, a composition broadly stable over the decade. None of the communities is uniform: Britannica notes Chinese families from Fujian and Guangdong with different dialects, Malays including Javanese and Boyanese speakers, and Indians who are mainly Tamil but also Malayali and Sikh. English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are official; English is the main medium of administration and schooling, and Malay is the national language. Buddhism, Daoism and Confucian practice, Islam, Christianity and Hinduism are all followed, and many people have no religious affiliation.

The resident population is aging: median age 43.6 and 19.5 percent aged 65 or over in 2026, while the resident fertility rate was 0.87 in 2025. About 3.20 million residents live in HDB flats. Hawker culture, inscribed by UNESCO in 2020, centers on hawker centers that act as community dining rooms; many hawkers specialize in one dish and pass their recipes to younger family members or apprentices.