Singapore is one of the most exciting cities in the world to travel. For decades, it’s been extraordinarily wealthy and a regional hub for the entirety of Southeast Asia. The town looks more like something you’d find in a western country like the US or Canada – and perhaps better. Gleaming skyscrapers and beautiful parks create a strangely beautiful urban environment, ready for you to explore.
Because the city-state is such an unusual place, it should come as no surprise that some strange facts are associated with it. It’s a green, cosmopolitan city with a unique culture of its own. Here’s what you need to know.
Fact 1: Singapore Covers 64 Islands
When people think about Singapore, they imagine a city atop an island just off mainland Malaysia. But, like Hong Kong and Indonesia, it spans several dozen islands – sixty-four, in fact.
The biggest of these is Sentora, followed by Ubin, Pulau, and St John’s island. Many of the smaller islands are uninhabited or set aside as nature reserves.
Fact 2: Singapore Always Celebrates Something
If you live in a western country, you’re used to the idea that major calendar events only come around occasionally – perhaps three or four times a year. But that’s not the case in a city like Singapore. Here, there’s always something to do. Singapore is home to a wide variety of significant arts, lifestyle, and cultural festivals. There are also treats for foodies here with the Singapore Food Festival.
Fact 3: Singapore Has Off-The-Beaten Track Neighborhoods
We tend to think of Singapore as a big city of well-lit boulevards and shopping malls. But like so many other places, it has its off-the-beaten-track neighborhoods to explore as well. If you want to rent HDB in Singapore, these are the places to go. Interesting spots include the city’s Chinatown, Little India, and the Kampong Gelam.
If you go far enough, you’ll encounter some attractive architectural styles you wouldn’t expect, including art deco.
Fact 4: Singapore Is One Of The Greenest Cities In The World
When you think of a city like Singapore, you imagine a concrete jungle with air conditioning units blasting out hot air into the atmosphere. But when you visit the country, you find something entirely different.
Singapore covers seven hundred square kilometers. And outside of the highly-photographed central business district, there are dozens of parks, gardens, and pockets of nature. So much so, nearly half of the country’s area is under tree cover – impressive for one of the world’s most urban countries.
Singapore has also worked hard to maintain biodiversity alongside the massive human population. According to biologists, the country is home to more than 2,100 species of vascular plants, with the Bukit Timah Reserve apparently home to more species of trees than exist natively in the whole of North America.
Fact 5: The Locals Speak Singlish
While English has been a significant influence on Singapore’s language, the locals speak a unique dialect, dubbed Singlish. Most of the sentence construction is the same as regular English, but with Asian exclamations, such as “leh” and “lah.”
Singlish isn’t really a language in itself. It’s more a collection of lingos derived from the city’s multiculturalism.
Fact 6: The City Has Stunning Man-Made Waterfalls
Singapore is home to several man-made waterfalls, the first of which was built at the city’s Jurong Bird Park all the way back in 1971. The structure is impressive, but nothing compared to the newly-built Cloud Forest in the Gardens by the Bay. Water falls 35 meters through an oculus in the center of a glass and steel dome. It’s like you’re watching the water drain from the bathtub from the pipe’s perspective below.
The world’s tallest indoor waterfall is in the lifestyle complex of the Jewel Changi Airport. The water here falls more than forty meters, plunging into a lush, indoor garden.
Fact 7: Rules Cap Building Height In Singapore To 280 Meters
You would have thought that a city like Singapore would try to build to the sky to make the best use of all the available land. But apparently, authorities don’t want to make the city vertical – at least not yet. There are just three buildings that reach this height, with most of the downtown area in the 200 to 250-meter range.
Fact 8: Singapore Is 15,000 Times Smaller Than The US
Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world, covering just 682.7 square kilometers. That makes it around 15,000 times smaller than the US in terms of land area.
Fact 9: Singapore’s Official Language Is Malay
While Singlish is a standard dialect in the country, the city’s official language is Malay, owing primarily to the influence of Malaysia.
Fact 10: Singapore Has The World’s First Night Zoo
Have you ever been to the zoo hoping to see a particular creature, only to discover that it is in bed?
If so, you’re not alone. Many of our favorite animals only come out at night.
The Singaporeans, however, cooked up a solution: open a night zoo. Here, visitors go around on safari-vehicles, viewing flood-lit animals as they go about the business, munching on grass. The main attraction is the 40-minute tram ride, which introduces you to the majority of the animals. There are also several way-marked trails you can walk along to spot animals yourself.
Just be warned, the zoo is dark. But don’t worry: lions aren’t going to jump out of the brush and maul you and your family. It’s perfectly safe.
Fact 11: Singapore Is Home To The First F1 Night Race
Formula One is popular worldwide, thanks to its glamour and the speed of the racing cars. The F1 Singapore Grand Prix made history for being the first night race in the sport’s history. The city had to create a unique flood-lit circuit to provide similar driving conditions to daylight. The course has more 23 corners – more than any other circuit in the Formula One racing calendar. The Marina Bay course is mostly unchanged from its inception.
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