Following the death of Lee Kuan Yew, the architect of modern Singapore, we look at the transformation of the city state.
The following images show just how much the country changed in his lifetime.
The British ruled Singapore from the 1820s until 1963. The city state gained independence from Malaysia in 1965. With a GDP per capita of around $500, a lack of natural resources and poor infrastructure, it was by most measures a third world country.
The population of the city stood at around 1.6 million in the 1960s.
Lee sought to industrialise the country and established the Singapore Economic Development Board to woo foreign investment. It soon established offices in Europe and the US to further encourage growth. In 1970, the Monetary Authority of Singapore was established.
Today, Singapore is the world's fourth biggest financial centre, and one of its five busiest ports. It has a GDP per capita of US$55,182, the 8th highest in the world. More than five million people now live there.
It has made great strides to encourage tourism with the construction of dramatic sights such as the astonishing Gardens by the Bay, a 135-acre green space with an aerial walkway, tropical waterfront gardens, tree-like towers and a 100ft waterfall.
While street food is still available, it has become Asia's culinary capital.
Singapore hosts the world’s only Formula 1 night race.
There's a new generation of hotels, including the dazzling Marina Bay Sands, which has an open-air pool on the 55th floor. Built at a cost of £3.7 billion, the hotel claims to be a wonder of the world, at least in terms of scale. There are 10,000 staff, 21 restaurants and 2,561 bedrooms in 18 categories.
Other attractions include the 540-foot Singapore Flyer observation wheel, the Universal Studios theme park, and a vast aquarium containing more than 100,000 animals housed in 45 million litres of water.
Singapore: from colonial backwater to high-tech city state Related image(s)
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