I've never been to Asia. My knowledge of that part of the world has long been lacking. In particular I realize I confuse Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. A friend is moving to Singapore for 3 years for a job and I decided to summarize a bit of research here. As usual I turned to a map and Wikipedia. This map eastmap (opens in new window) shows all three. Note that this image is somewaht larger than can be displayed on most displays. Scroll around it a bit. With Firefox click on the image to show full size image which has clearer labels. Coordinates: Also on the map Singapore 300,660 (vertical,horizontal on scale) Djakarta, Indonesia 740,350 Hong Kong 420,410 (At very bottom, where Barack Obama lived from age 6-10) Taiwan 500,400 India, China, Japan Here is a summary of the basics (from Wikipedia with links to articles there) :Singapore
Capital Singapore City (Downtown Core) 1 17 N, 103 51 E Official languages English, Malay, Mandarin (Chinese), Tamil Government Parliamentary republic Area Total 704.0 km2 (190th) 270 sq mi Water (%) 1.444 Population 2007 estimate 4,680,600 (117th) 2000 census 4,117,700 Density 6,369.2/km2 (4th) 16,392/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate Total $161.35 billion (54th) Per capita $37,489 (17th) GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate Total $171.95 billion Per capita $39,952 HDI (2007) 0.922 (high) (25th) Currency Singapore dollar (SGD) Time zone SST (UTC+8) Internet TLD .sg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SingaporeHong Kong
Largest district (population) Sha Tin District 22 15 N, 114 10 E Official languages English, Cantonese Government special administrative region of China Area Total 1,104 km2 (not ranked) 426.4 sq mi Water (%) 4.6 Population 2007 estimate 6,963,100 (97th) 2001 census 6,708,389 Density 6,352/km2 (3rd) 16,469.6/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate Total $289.7 billion (39th) Per capita $41,614 (6th) GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate Total $203.0 billion (37th) Per capita $29,149 (28th) HDI (2007) 0.937 (high) (21st) Currency Hong Kong dollar (HKD) Time zone HKT (UTC+8) Internet TLD .hk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_kongTaiwan
Capital & largest city Taipei 25 02 N, 121 38 E Official languages Standard Mandarin Government Semi-presidential system Area Total 36,188 km2 (136th) 13,975 sq mi Water (%) 10.34 Population 2007 estimate 22,911,292 (47th) Density 633.12/km2 (14th) 1,639.43/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate Total $681.8 billion (16th) Per capita $29,600 (27th) GDP (nominal) 2006 estimate Total $364,563 billion (21st) Per capita $15,482 (35th) HDI (2005) 0.932 (high) (23rd if ranked) Currency New Taiwan dollar (NT$) (TWD) Time zone CST (UTC+8) Internet TLD .tw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China