Singapore Island, or Mainland Singapore, is the main constituent island of the

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

island

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

and

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of the

Republic of Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country, island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Pen ...

. It is located at the southern tip of

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

, in-between the

Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula ( Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, co ...

and the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...

. The Singapore Strait lies to the south, while the Johor Strait lies to the north. The island forms the bulk of the country in terms of area, population and prominence, since areas situated on the country's smaller islands consists of military or industrial areas, with the exceptions being Sentosa as well as Ubin Island. As of June 2021, Singapore's population stood at 5.45 million and the mainland has a land area of approximately .

Etymology

Temasek Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ...

was the early recorded name of a settlement on the site of today's Singapore, although the island itself wasn't specifically defined. Meanwhile, Pulau Ujong was the one of the earliest references to Singapore Island. The 3rd-century Chinese reference to ''Pú Luó Zhōng'' (), corresponds to the local reference known as Pulau Ujong, which directly translates to English as the "Island at the end". Travellers and merchants from around Asia arriving at the Singapore Strait to the South China Sea would have to pass by the island, hence the name Pulau Ujong. At the time, the island was also used by the Orang Laut to mean the "End Island". Ujong Tanah or "Land at the Furthest" or its variants were also used in European sources as a name for Singapore.

Legend

According to a mythical third-century book ''Record of Foreign countries during the Eastern Wu Period'' (呉時外國傳), the island was inhabited by cannibals with five to six-inch tails.

Geography

On a straight line, the island measures approximately from east to west and from north to south – with of coastline. The highest point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, with a height of 165 m (538 ft) and made up of

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

. Hills and valleys of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

dominate the northwest, while the eastern region consists of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

y and flatter land. Since 1822, there were land reclamation works by the British, who at that time controlled the island as a colony. Since independence, the contemporary government of Singapore has continued to increase the size of the island, having increased the area of the main island from in the 1960s to today. A further of land is also expected to be added to the main island.

Extreme points

The northernmost end of the island is Sembawang. The westernmost and southernmost points are at

Tuas Tuas is a planning area located within the West Region of Singapore. It is bounded by the Western Water Catchment to its north, Pioneer to its east and the Straits of Johor to its west. Tuas also shares a maritime boundary with the Western Is ...

. The easternmost point of the island is Changi Bay.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

Etymology

Legend

Geography

Extreme points

References

Further reading