Singapore vs Dolo

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Singapore ( (listen)), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Straits of Malacca to the west, the Riau Islands to the south, and the South China Sea to the east. The country's territory is composed of one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet, the combined area of which has increased by 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects. It has the second greatest population density in the world. The country is home to almost 5.7 million residents, 61% (3.4 million) of whom are Singaporean citizens. There are four official languages of Singapore: English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil; with English being the lingua franca. Multiracialism is enshrined in the constitution, and continues to shape national policies in education, housing, and politics. Although its history stretches back millennia, modern Singapore was founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles as a trading post of the British Empire. In 1867, the colonies in East Asia were reorganised and Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the Straits Settlements. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan in 1942, but returned to British control as a separate crown colony following Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained self-governance in 1959, and in 1963 became part of the new federation of Malaysia, alongside Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Ideological differences led to Singapore being expelled from the federation two years later, thereby becoming an independent country. Since then, Singapore is considered the only fully sovereign city-state in the world, with its own currency and technologically advanced military forces. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the Four Asian Tigers based on external trade, becoming the highest developed country in Asia.

It has the 2nd-highest GDP per capita in the world and rank 9th on the UN Human Development Index. Singapore is the only country in Asia with an AAA sovereign rating from all major rating agencies. It has been ranked by the World Economic Forum as the world's most competitive in addition to being the freest economy, and the ease of doing business index had ranked Singapore as the easiest place to do business for the past decade. It is a global financial and shipping hub, consistently ranked the most expensive city to live in since 2013, and has been identified as a tax haven. Singapore is placed highly in key social indicators: education, healthcare, quality of life, prosperity, personal safety and housing, with a home-ownership rate of 91%. Singaporeans enjoy one of the world's longest life expectancies, fastest Internet connection speeds and one of the lowest infant mortality rates. Singapore is a unitary parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. Singapore is widely regarded to have an incorrupt and meritocratic government, with a fair judiciary and strong rule of law. While the country practices parliamentary democracy, the government has significant control over politics and society, and the People's Action Party has ruled continuously since independence. One of the five founding members of ASEAN, Singapore is also the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Secretariat, as well as many international conferences and events. Singapore was the host to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, the Ma–Xi meeting and the 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit. Singapore is also a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Source: Wikipedia

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Dolo is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, Italy. It is connected by the SP26 provincial road and is one of the towns of the Riviera del Brenta. The growth of the town of Dolo is due to the gradual downsizing of the maritime power of Venice which was historically oriented towards Dalmatia, the Aegean Sea and the Middle East, occurred concurrently with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic expansion and the new opening of navigation routes to the Americas. As a consequence Venice had to address inland its new commercial interests. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, documents testify to the existence of a village which, developing, gave rise to the economic importance of Dolo, always linked to the presence of its water mills collecting wheat from the nearby agricultural lands and then grinding the flour and embarking some into cargo boats pulled by horses along the banks of the Brenta Canal to the lagoon, from where they continued directly up to the Venice island settlement. Drinking water, too, was carried from Dolo to the center of Venice by cargo boats with big barrels filled directly from springs of the little river Seriola. The territory was affected by massive hydraulic works that led to the diversion of the main bed of the river Brenta through an artificial canal with new mouths along the southern sea approaches of the port of Chioggia, while just one part of the old Brenta still flows into the lagoon near the location of Fusina. The purpose of these megalithic hydraulic works was primarily to prevent the progressive flooding of the lagoon by the fresh water of the rivers and thus maintaining a high degree of salinity necessary to make possible the navigation and the very existence of Venice.

Until 1405 the jurisdiction of Dolo was under Padua, and then passed definitely under the dominion of Venice. A boat called the Burchiello transported Venetian noblemen directly to the Riviera sailing along the river Brenta, which was considered a natural extension of the Grand Canal, to spend summer in their sumptuous villas. The water level of the navigable river ways were controlled by a system of locks which are nowadays still visible in the center of Dolo, even if the evolution basin is now ground filled. An old marble table is still on display nearby to show toll tariffs for the transit in the locks for each type of boats coming from or going to Padua. Close to basin, there is a small shipyard, now dismissed, which was anciently used to repair and shelter the boats prior or after transiting the locks, while laboratories of caulk were housed all around. The origin of the name of Dolo is quite uncertain and controversial. One hypothesis asserts the name comes from the contraction of "Dandolo", surname of a noble Venetian family who gave a doge to the city of Venice and had properties here. From old maps it appears that the town’s name was sometimes reported as Dollo, which in archaic Italian language could also mean a tower which was probably demolished thereafter, unless it refers to the church’s belfry which is the highest in the region of Veneto, second only to St. Mark’s belfry in Venice. A lovely picture of the ancient locks of Dolo by the Venetian painter Canaletto can be seen in a London museum.

Source: Wikipedia