SINGAPORE - Republik Singapura (Malay) 新加坡共和国 (Chinese) சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு (Tamil)

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Straits of Malacca to the west, Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south, and the South China Sea to the east. The country's territory is composed of one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet, the combined area of which has increased by 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects.

Throughout its millennia-long history, Singapore was a maritime emporium that fell under the suzerainty of several successive polities: initially a series of ancient to medieval thalassocratic empires, the medieval Kingdom of Singapura, and ultimately two medieval to early modern sultanates. The arrival of Stamford Raffles in 1819, a British colonial officer, and the subsequent establishment of a British East India Company trading post on the main island marked the genesis of modern Singapore. Five years later, the British and Dutch East India companies signed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, with the British coercively wresting Singapore in the process, marking the cessation of indigenous rule over the island for the first time in its history. In 1826, Singapore was incorporated into the Straits Settlements, a pan-British Malayan presidency of the Company initially with Penang as its capital, and in 1830, the Settlements were annexed to British India as an eastern residency, where they would be governed from the capital of Calcutta under two administrations—until 1858 under Company rule, and—following the Company's collapse in the wake of the 1857 rebellion in India—until 1867 under direct Crown rule. In 1867, the administration of the Settlements was transferred directly to London, bringing them under the direct control of the United Kingdom as a new crown colony.

From 1867 to the 1940s, Singapore, having replaced Penang as capital of the Settlements, grew into a thriving entrepôt under the auspices of the British Empire, attracting large numbers of new settlers and sojourners from around the region and beyond. During the Second World War, the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied Singapore, resulting in an interregnum of British colonial rule from 1942 to 1945. Following Japan's surrender in 1945, Singapore was returned to British control; in 1946, the Straits Settlements were dissolved, and Singapore became a standalone crown colony. In 1959, following a protracted period of agitation against colonial rule, Singapore was granted limited autonomy; in 1963, it became fully emancipated from the British Empire upon its federation with the territories of the erstwhile British Malaya and British Borneo to form the new country of Malaysia. However, after two tumultuous years as a constituent state of the Malaysian Federation, marred by violent ethnoreligious strife and other intractable differences, Singapore was expelled in 1965, becoming the first country in modern history to gain independence against its will—although this narrative remains contentious. After early years of turbulence, the newly sovereign nation—viewed as a nonviable state by international observers due to its diminutiveness, geostrategic vulnerability, absence of natural resources, and lack of a hinterland—defied odds by rapidly developing and industrialising to become a high-income economy and developed country within a single generation.

Singapore was originally part of the Straits Settlements and used the colony's stamps. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by the Japanese between 1942 and 1945. After the surrender of the Japanese Occupation forces at the end of World War II, Singapore and Malaya were administrated by the British Military Administration (BMA). Free postage was implemented for a short period from 17 Sept 1945 till 18 Oct 1945. On 19 Oct 1945, Straits Settlements stamps overprinted B.M.A. MALAYA were issued for postal use. These stamps were used till 1948, when the first Singapore stamps were issued. Singapore became a British Crown Colony in 1946. The first stamps of Singapore were issued on 1 September 1948. 

From 3 June 1959, Singapore became a self-governing state as the State of Singapore. Five sets of commemorative stamps were issued in this period, to mark the New Constitution in 1959 and National Days in 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963. All were inscribed State of Singapore. In addition a long definitive set marked simply Singapore was issued from 1962 onwards. On 16 September 1963 Singapore merged with the Federation of Malaya along with Sabah and Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia. On 9 August 1965, Singapore seceded from Malaysia to become an independent republic within the Commonwealth.^[1] A set of stamps, featuring four men, were issued in 1966 to commemorate the first anniversary of independence marked Republic of Singapore but all later stamps to this day have been marked just Singapore.