The Republic of Singapore is an island country & city-state. It is at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula in Asia. Singapore is about one degree of latitude () north of the equator. Its closest neighbors are Malaysia and Indonesia. About 5.40 million people live in Singapore. About 3.31 million are citizens. Most of them (76%) are ethnically Chinese. In Sanskrit, an old Indian language, "Singaporean", from which Singapore got its name, means "Lion City" commonly ruled by Sultans.