The Republic of Singapore lies approximately 137km (85 miles) north of the equator off the southernmost tip of Peninsular Malaysia, separated from it by the Straits of Johor and from the Indonesian archipelago in the south by the Straits of Singapore. Its territory consist of the island of Singapore and 58 islets of which more than 20 are inhabited.

The main island of Singapore is about 42km (26 miles) from west and 23km (15 miles) from north to south, with 137km (85 miles) of coastline. About 50% of the island is devoted to residential, commercial and industrial development and some 2% is agricultural land. Approximately one-third of the domestic demand for fresh produce is supplied by high-tech 'agrotechnology parks'. The remainder consist of forest reserves, marshes and other undeveloped tracts.