Districts of Singapore

Buy data    Donate

Updates: 

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-9 was published on 2007-11-28. It contains codes for the five districts, as shown in the main table below.

Country overview: 

In 1900, Singapore was one of the Straits Settlements. It had two dependencies: Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. See the history of Malaysia for the context of Singapore's changes. Singapore gained independence on 1965-08-09.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Singapore
2. Dutch: Singapore, Republiek Singapore (formal)
3. English: Republic of Singapore (formal)
4. Finnish: Singapore
5. French: Singapour
6. German: Singapur n
7. Icelandic: Singapúr
8. Italian: Singapore f
9. Norwegian: Singapore, Republikken Singapore (formal)
10. Portuguese: Singapura, Cingapura (Brazil), República f de Singapura (formal)
11. Spanish: Singapur, República f de Singapur m (formal)
12. Swedish: Singapore

Origin of name: 

Hindi singh: lion, pur: city

Primary subdivisions: 

Singapore is divided into five districts.

Postal codes: 

Singapore uses six-digit postal codes.

Further subdivisions:

The districts are administered by Community Development Councils (CDCs). They are divided into a mixture of group representation constituencies (GRCs) and single member constituencies (SMCs). GRCs consist of several constituencies (sometimes also called divisions or districts); SMCs contain only one such constituency apiece. As of 2004 there are fourteen GMCs and nine SMCs, further subdivided into 84 constituencies. This CDC  page has a breakdown of this administrative structure. As of 2004, there are also 16 town councils, each of which covers one or more GRCs and SMCs.

Territorial extent: 

Singapore consists entirely of islands off the southern tip of the Malay peninsula. By far the largest is Singapore Island. Some others are Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin, Sentosa, and Pulau Senang.

Change history: 

1. 1900: Christmas Island became part of Singapore settlement.
2. 1903: Cocos (Keeling) Islands became part of Singapore.
3. 1907: Labuan, an island off the coast of Borneo, merged with Singapore.
4. 1912: Labuan split from Singapore to become a separate settlement in the Straits Settlements.
5. 1946-04-01: Singapore split from Straits Settlements to become a British colony.
6. 1955-11-23: Cocos (Keeling) Islands transferred from Singapore to Australia.
7. 1958-10-01: Christmas Island transferred from Singapore to Australia.
8. 1963-09-16: Singapore merged with other entities to form Federation of Malaysia.
9. 1965-08-09: Singapore split from Federation of Malaysia to become an independent country.
10. ~1995: Singapore had six districts: Bukit Panjang, Jurong, Katong, Serangoon, Singapore City, and Southern Islands. I don't know of any administrative structures corresponding to these districts.
11. 1997-03-29: Marine Parade and Tanjong Pagar were the only districts established when the People's Association Rules  (CDC Rules) were first published.
12. 1997-08-30: CDC Rules amended. Ang Mo Kio-Cheng San, Bukit Timah, Central Singapore, Hougang, Northeast, Potong Pasir, and Sembawang-Hong Kah districts added.
13. 1997-12-13: CDC Rules took effect. The nine districts became the administrative divisions of Singapore.
14. 2001-11-24: Singapore reorganized into the five districts listed in the table above.