Singapore has been sovereign for its whole history.
Singapore ( [ ˈsɪŋgəpɔr ] ) , officially the Republic of Singapore , sometimes referred to as the Lion City , the Garden City or the Little Red Dot , is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia . It gained independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to form Malaysia , but separated two years later over ideological differences , becoming a sovereign nation in 1965 . The People 's Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959 . The Singapore Act 1966 ( 1966 c. 29 ) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that admitted Singapore as a sovereign state into the Commonwealth of Nations with retroactive effect from 9 August 1965 , being the date on which Singapore became an sovereign state separate from and independent of Malaysia within the Commonwealth .