Singaporeans

Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-denominational, multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian descent have made up the overwhelming majority of the population since the 19th century. The Singaporean diaspora is also far-reaching worldwide.

In 1819, the port of Singapore was established by Sir Stamford Raffles, who opened it to free trade and free immigration on the island's south coast. Many immigrants from the region settled in Singapore. By 1827, the population of the island was composed of people from various ethnic groups².

Singapore is a multilingual and multicultural society. It is home to people of many different ethnic, racial, religious, denominational, and national origins -- the majority of which are of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian. The Singaporean identity was fostered as a way for these different groups to integrate and identify as one with the nation, while preserving the culture and traditions of each group without assimilating minority cultures into a single majority culture.

According to a 2017 survey by the Institute of Policy Studies, 49% of Singaporeans identify with both the Singaporean identity and their ethnic identity equally, while 35% would identify as "Singaporeans" first and 14.2% would identify with their ethnic identity. As of 2019, the population of Singaporeans stands at 4,026,200 and the population of Overseas Singaporeans stands at 340,751, with 217,200 individuals retaining their citizenship.