Singapore (island)

The island forms the bulk of the country in terms of area, population, and prominence since areas situated on the country's smaller islands consist of military or industrial areas, except for Sentosa and Ubin Islands. As of the mid-2020s, Singapore's population stood over six million, and the mainland has a land area of approximately 730 square kilometres (280 sq mi).

Etymology

Temasek was the early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore, although the island itself was not specifically defined. A 3rd-century Chinese reference to 蒲羅中 (pinyin: Pú Luó Zhōng) corresponds to the local name Pulau Ujong (lit. 'Island at the End' in Malay).

Travellers and merchants from around Asia arriving at the Singapore Strait to the South China Sea would have to pass by the island, hence the name Pulau Ujong. Similarly, Orang Laut tribes called Singapore by this name. Ujong Tanah (lit. "Land at the Furthest") or its variants were also used in European sources as a name for Singapore.

The Kristang name for the island, Pedra Draku (lit. "Rock of Dragons" or "Dragonsrock"), comes from the Dragon's Tail Peninsula found in older maps of the world, identified as the former sub-continent of Sundaland that the island of Singapore now sits on top of. The name Pedra Draku thus also has supposed parallels with the Dragon's Teeth Gate or Long Ya Men (Chinese: 龍牙門) that once stood at the front of Keppel Harbour, and also with the Malay name Pulau Ujong, identifying Singapore as the island at the end of the Dragon's Tail Peninsula.