Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The annual growth rate for 2002 was 0.8%, including resident foreigners. Singapore has a varied linguistic, cultural, and religious heritage. Malay is the national language, but Chinese, English, and Tamil also are official languages. English is the language of administration and also is widely used in the professions, businesses, and schools.

The government has mandated that English be the primary language used at all levels of the school systems, and it aims to provide at least 10 years of education for every child. In 2002, primary and secondary school students totaled about 497,500, or 12% of the entire population. In 2001, enrollment at the universities was 37,983 (full-time, part-time, and post-graduate) and 53,599 at the polytechnics. The Institute of Technical Education for basic technical and commerce skills has almost 16,200 students. The country's literacy rate is 94%.

Singapore generally allows religious freedom, although religious groups are subject to government scrutiny, and some religious sects are restricted or banned. Almost all Malays are Muslim; other Singaporeans are Taoists, Buddhists, Confucianists, Christians, Hindus, or Sikhs.