Abstract
The first known written account of the island of Singapore was by a Chinese explorer in the 3rd century AD. In a strategic location at the tip of the Malay peninsula, the island is likely to have been a port of call for sailors navigating the Melaka straits, although there is no evidence of settlement until the town of Temasek was described in the 13th century. Temasek was controlled by the Srivijaya Empire, centred on Palembang in Sumatra, during the 14th century, before falling to the Javanese Majapahit Empire. When Sultan Iksander Shah founded the Melaka Sultanate in the 1390s, he established a trading post on Singapore Island. After Portuguese forces sacked Melaka in 1511 the island came under the influence of the newly-created Johor Sultanate. In 1613 Singapore’s main settlement was burnt down by Portuguese raiders and the island slipped into obscurity, with the ports of Melaka and Johor dominating the lucrative shipping routes that linked Europe and India with China and the East Indies.
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Further Reading
Department of Statistics. Monthly Digest of Statistics. — Yearbook of Statistics.
The Constitution of Singapore. 1992
Information Division, Ministry of Information and the Arts. Singapore [year] : a Review of [the previous year].
Ministry of Trade and Industry, Economic Survey of Singapore. (Quarterly and Annual)
Chee-Kiong, T., The Making of Singapore Sociology: State and Society. 2002
Chew, E. C. T., A History of Singapore. 1992
Huff, W. G., Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century. 1994
Myint, S., The Principles of Singapore Law. 4th ed. 2001
Tan, C. H., Financial Markets and Institutions in Singapore. 11th ed. 2005
National library: National Library of Singapore, 100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064.
National Statistical Office: Department of Statistics, 100 High St. #05–01, The Treasury, Singapore 179434.
Website: http://www.singstat.gov.sg
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Turner, B. (2014). Singapore. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-67278-3_318
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-67278-3_318
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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