Singapore
Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore in 1819 as a trading post of the British East India Company. After the company's collapse in 1858, the islands were ceded to the British Raj as a crown colony. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but separated two years later over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign nation in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce.
Early history of Singapore
The first possible mention of early Singapore dates to 2nd century CE cartographic references in the Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy's "Geographia". A place called "Sabana" or "Sabara" was marked on the 11th Map of Asia at the southern tip of the Golden Khersonese (meaning the Malay Peninsula) where Singapore may lie. It was identified as a "nominon emporion" or designated foreign trading port, as part of a chain of similar trading centres that linked Southeast Asia with India and the Mediterranean. Identification of "Sabana" or "Sabara" however varies, with various authors proposing it to be in Selangor or near Klang, or just south of Malacca, or south Johor, as well as Singapore island itself. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found in Singapore.
A 3rd century Chinese written record described the island of "Pu Luo Chung" (蒲羅中), probably a transcription of the Malay "Pulau Ujong", "island at the end" (of the Malay peninsula). It mentions briefly a hearsay account of cannibals with 5 or 6 inch tails living there.