The smallest country in Asia by landmass is Singapore, or to be more precise, The Republic of Singapore, a city state consisting of over 63 islands that lies at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is just over 704 square kilometers. Singapore has “enjoyed” many changes in foreign government; from Srivijaya rule in the second century AD and beyond, to being part of the Sultanate of Johor; with some interference Portuguese and Dutch before the British East India Company signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah and established Singapore as a trading post. Britain lost control over Singapore to the Japanese during World War II in a crushing defeat, but regained rule in 1945. In 1963, it joined two other territories to form Malaysia, but became independent two years later due to a conflict with the politics in Kuala Lumpur.

Tourism is one of the main industries in Singapore; with a burgeoning subspecialty, medical tourism. Singapore is a well known business hub, with the world’s largest port by tonnage, and many multinational corporations have offices there. Manufacturing is a mainstay of the economy, with the importing of raw materials to make products in the petrochemical and biomedical industries.

The smallest country in Asia, by population is the Maldives, with about 300,000 people. It was also formerly a British Colony that gained independence in the 1960s; a bad decade for British colonial rule. The Maldives consists of 1190 small coral islands, many of which were decimated in the 2004 tsunami caused by the earthquake in India.