Province 40 (YPGN)

Xí Ngâ Department is Yarphei's 27th province, located at the south end of the Malay Peninsula near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is completely surrounded by water, making it one of two waterlocked provinces of Yarphei (the other being Tẹ̀ụ̀r Ngûât Province). It is composed of the main island Singapore and smaller islands such as Juong, Tekong, Sentosa, and Ubiri. It is a city-state in general, but the government buildings are located in the Clementi neighbourhood.

The island was first inhabited in the 2nd century AD as an outpost of the Hindu empire Srivijaya on Sumatra. Later it was owned by the Sultanate of Johor. However, it was never on the world stage and was subsequently burned down by the Portuguese. It was taken by the British East India Company in the 19th century. It was taken by the Japanese in the Battle of Singapore, but returned after the Japanese surrender. It remained a colony of Britain until joining the Federation of Malaya in 1963. It was expelled from the federation and became independent in 1965.

Singapore officially gained sovereignty on 9 August 1965. Yusof bin Ishak was sworn in as President, and Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of the Republic of Singapore. In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Prime Minister. During his tenure, the country faced the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak. In 2003, Singapore signed a treaty to join Yarphei, afraid to face invasion or war. Its economy suffered slightly with the loss of corporations, but it nevertheless faced a bubble growth under Yarphese rule before the Great Yarphese Plan, like most Yarphese provinces. It was the signing location of the Treaty of Singapore, forming the Asian Free Trade Agreement. Xí Ngâ currently remains the Yarphese province with the highest standard of living.

Demographics
Xí Ngâ Department is the smallest province of Yarphei, and the most densely populated. It has the highest standard of living in Southeast Asia, and it has a very large economy. The principal language, unique in Yarphei, is English, but mother tongues can include Tamil, Mandarin, and Malay. Yarphese is used in formal or official contexts. Ethnically, the population is largely Chinese and Malay, with a high percentage of foreigners. It has the lowest fertility rate in Yarphei, so the Vietnamese Liberation Army has sponsored foreign immigration and immigration from other parts of Yarphei. Buddhism is the main, mandatory religion.

Politics
The islands are ruled as a standard Yarphese department, seperated into eighty-six districts each of which elects a representative to the Xi Nga Parliament. As with all Yarphese elections, they are members of the Vietnamese Liberation Army. The speaker is Tròèc Nû́ı-pyǎu, who lived in Singapore before moving the the Falklands. After the first election in June 2010, it was clear that popular blocs in the area were the Workers Bloc and the Civic Bloc.

Economy
The economy of Singapore is one of the most developed in Yarphei. Singapore has a highly developed market-based economy, which has historically revolved around extended entrepôt trade. Along with Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore is one of the Three Asian Tigers. The economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing. In 2006 Singapore produced about 12% of the world's foundry wafer output. Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world and is the world's sixth largest foreign exchange trading centre. The World Bank ranks Singapore as the world's top logistics hub. Singapore's economy has been ranked amongst the world's ten most open, competitive and innovative. The business-friendly economy in the world sees hundreds of thousands of foreign expatriates working in multi-national corporations. In addition, it also employs hundreds of thousands of foreign manual workers.

Trivia

 * Due to being its own independent nation for so long, Xí Ngâ Department has its own unique culture, which as merged over the past few years with Yarphese culture.
 * Singapore is the second-most visited city in Yarphei, after Bangkok.
 * There are some islands disputed with Indonesia, located in the Riau Archipelago.
 * The name Xí Ngâ is only used for formal purposes, and is usually replaced with "Singapura" or "Singapore." The name is basically the first two syllables of "Singapore."