Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan
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.
Friends are 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 Google map, Eastmap, (opens in new window) shows all three with "pins".
(It does not work right if I am logged into Google :( ) Click on << by upper left corner
of map to see more area. You can zoom in to look closer.
For area comparison, particularly of Singapore:
TC I-494/I-694 loop ** 299 sq mi ( 775 km2)
Hennepin County 606 sq mi (1,571 km2) 8.2% water
Minneapolis city limits : 58.4 sq mi ( 151.3 km2) 6% water
** Area inside I-494/I-694 loop around Twin Cities = about 13 x 23 mi rectangle
Singapore map
Twin Cities, MN, USA
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/Singapore
Hong 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_kong
Taiwan
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