During the 14th century, this small but strategically-placed island had earned a new name - "Singa Pura", or "Lion City". According to legend, a visiting Sri Vijayan prince saw an animal he mistook for a lion and Singapore's modern day name was born. The British provided the next notable chapter in the Singapore story.

The customs and festivals of the different ethnic groups in Singapore highlight the nation's rich cultural heritage. Singapore's people are largely descendants of immigrants from the Malay Peninsula, China, the Indian sub-continent and Sri Lanka. They have gradually acquired a distinct identity as Singaporeans while still retaining their traditional practices, customs and festivals.

The name Singapura is derived from the Sanskrit words singa sinha ("lion") and pura ("city"). According to the Malay Annals, this name was given by a 14th century Sumatran Malay prince named Sang Nila Utama, who, landing on the island after a thunderstorm, spotted an auspicious beast on the shore that his chief minister identified as a lion. Recent studies of Singapore indicate that lions have never lived there, not even Asiatic lions and the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama was likely a tiger, most likely the Malayan Tiger.

Singapore consists of 63 islands, including mainland Singapore. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia - Johor-Singapore Causeway in the north, and Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's many smaller islands. The highest natural point of Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill at 166 m (545 ft).

Singapore Botanic Gardens, a 67.3-hectare (166 acre) Botanic Gardens in Singapore that includes the National Orchid Garden, which has a collection of more than 3,000 species of orchids.The south of Singapore, around the mouth of the Singapore River and what is now the Downtown Core, used to be the only concentrated urban area, while the rest of the land was either undeveloped tropical rainforest or used for agriculture. Since the 1960s, the government has constructed new residential towns in outlying areas, resulting in an entirely built-up urban landscape. The Urban Redevelopment Authority was established on 1 April 1974, responsible for urban planning.

Singapore has on-going land reclamation projects with earth obtained from its own hills, the sea-bed, and neighbouring countries. As a result, Singapore's land area grew from 581.5 km² (224.5 sq mi) in the 1960s to 704 km² (271.8 sq mi) today, and may grow by another 100 km² (38.6 sq mi) by 2030. The projects sometimes involve some of the smaller islands being merged together through land reclamation in order to form larger, more functional islands, such as in the case of Jurong Island

Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. About 9.7 million tourists visited Singapore in 2006.[43] The Orchard Road district is the centre of shopping hub in Singapore. To attract more tourists, the government decided in 2005 to legalise gambling and to allow two Integrated Resorts to be developed at Marina South and Sentosa.[44] To compete with its many rivals such as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, the government has announced that the city area would be transformed into a more exciting place by lighting up the city completely. Other than the Integrated Resort, about 15 new developments are coming up, which include the Singapore Flyer, which would be the largest Ferris wheel in the world, the Gardens by the Bay and a 280-metre Double Helix Bridge. Cuisine has been heavily promoted as an attraction for tourists, with the Singapore Food Festival in July organized annually to celebrate Singapore's cuisine.

Singapore is also growing its medical tourism sector. 230,000 foreigners sought medical care in the country in 2003 and Singapore medical services are aiming to serve one million foreign patients annually by 2012. In doing so it is hoped to generate $3 billion in revenue and create at least 13,000 new jobs within the health industries. Singapore hospitals are actively engaged in international healthcare accreditation, at least partly as a by-product of this desire to grow the income from medical tourism.