Singapore Hotels & Malaysia Hotels
About Singapore Malaysia

THE LAND

The country is made up of one main island, Singapore, and around 60 smaller ones, some of which-like Sentosa, Pulau Ubin, Kusu, and St. John's Island-are popular retreats. The main island is shaped like a flat, horizontal diamond, measuring in at just over 42km (25 miles) from east to west and almost 23km (14 miles) north to south. With a total land area of only 584.8 sq. km (351 sq. miles), Singapore is almost shockingly tiny.

Singapore's geographical position, sitting approximately 137km (82 miles) north of the equator, means that its climate offers uniform temperatures, plentiful rainfall, and high, high humidity.

As a city-state, Singapore is basically a city that is the country. That doesn't necessarily mean that the entire country is urban, but that the whole of the country and the city is "Singapore," without provincial divisions.

Singapore does, however, have an urban center and smaller suburban neighborhoods: The urban area centers around the Singapore River at the southern point of the island, and within it are neighborhood divisions: the Historic District (also referred to as the city center or cultural district), Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar (which is oftentimes lumped together with Chinatown due to its close proximity), the Orchard Road area, Little India, and Kampong Glam (also referred to as the Arab District).

Just beyond the urban area lie suburban neighborhoods. Some older suburbs, like Katong and Geylang, date from the turn of the 20th century. Others are new, and are therefore referred to as "HDB New Towns." (HDB stands for "Housing Development Board," the government agency responsible for public housing.) HDB New lowns such as Ang Mo Kio or Toa Payoh are clusters of public housing units, each with their own network of supporting businesses: provision shops, restaurants, healthcare facilities, and sometimes shopping malls.
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