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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Singapore
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island off the southern tip of the Malay peninsula, which has been a member of the *Commonwealth and a republic since 1965. Measuring only 42km/26m by 23km/14m, it occupied an important position on the sea route from India to China after a settlement was established here for the East India Company by Stamford *Raffles in 1819. The island was grouped from 1826 with two other ports on the west coast of the peninsula, Malacca and Penang, to form the Straits Settlements. In 1946 Singapore became a separate colony and it was granted internal self-government in 1959. With full independence, in 1963, it joined the federation of *Malaysia, from which it seceded in 1965. The prime minister in 1959, Lee Kuan Yew (b. 1923), retained un unbroken spell of power until his resignation in 1990.
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