Singapore comes from the word "Singapura" ("Lion City").

There is a Legend that goes like this ... In the 14th century, a Sumatran prince caught in a storm, sighted a beast that looked like a lion when he first set foot on the island.

Centuries later, in the year 1819, Singapore was founded as a British trading colony by Sir Stamford Raffles. It later joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but was separated two years later.

Singapore first gained its independence as a sovereign and democratic nation on 9 August 1965. It was also admitted to both the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations in the same year.

Subsequently, Singapore became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.