Singapore is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, located between Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore's name means "Lion City" in Sanskrit, and the modern city was founded in 1819 when the United Kingdom established a trading post on the island, which had already been settled in the 13th century. Singapore became a Royal Navy base, and it also became a home to several oil refineries, large container ports, and financial buildings. From 1941 to 1945, Singapore was occupied by Japan after the British suffered the worst defeat in their history, the Battle of Singapore, in which 90,000 British troops under Arthur Percival surrendered to an enemy a third of the size, and the island would be liberated only when Japan surrendered at the end of World War II. On 31 August 1963, the United Kingdom granted Singapore independence, and it was briefly in union with Malaysia until 9 August 1965, when it left due to trading disputes. Malaysia is a multicultural society with several ethnicities, including Chinese, Malays, Indians, and the English, and most Singaporeans speak both English and their mother tongues. In 2015, Singapore had a population of 5,535,000 people.
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