Singapore, a city-state on an island at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, was historically a part of many different empires. Colonized by the East India Company in 1818, and claimed as a British possession in 1824, it was lost temporarily to the Japanese during World War II. Singapore eventually gained its independence from Britain in 1963 by joining with Malaysia, though the nation split with them in 1965 to form their own independent country. The island of Singapore is almost completely urbanized, though some rainforest reservations still remain.