Singapore

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Singapore

Singapore is a city-state at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, some 137 kilometers north of the Equator. It is made up of the diamond-shaped Singapore Island and around 60 smaller islets. Separating the main island in the north from Peninsular Malaysia is the Johor Strait, a narrow channel crossed by road and rail embankments more than half a mile long. Today, Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the world's busiest. The city was once a British colony, now part of the Commonwealth. First joined the Federation of Malaysia when it was formed in 1963, but seceded on 9 August 1965 and became an independent state. Singapore has lost 95% of its historical forests due to urbanization, and now more than half of Singapore's wildlife is found in nature reserves, such as the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, which cover only 0.25% of Singapore's territory. Fighting the loss of natural areas, in 1967 the government introduced the idea of turning Singapore into a "garden city" to improve the quality of life. Since that time, nearly 10% of Singapore's territory has been protected as parks and nature reserves, and the government has drawn up plans to conserve the country's remaining wildlife. Singapore's well-known gardens include the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a 161-year-old tropical garden which is Singapore's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tropical garden is located on the edge of Singapore's Orchard Road shopping district. The main garden houses the National Orchid Garden with the largest collection of orchids, with 1200 species and 2000 hybrids.