The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Botanic Gardens has been ranked Asia's top park attraction since 2013, by TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards. It was declared the inaugural Garden of the Year by the International Garden Tourism Awards in 2012. The Botanic Gardens was founded at its present site in 1859 by the Agri-horticultural Society. It played a pivotal role in the region's rubber trade boom in the early twentieth century when its first scientific director, Henry Nicholas Ridley, headed research into the plant's cultivation. By perfecting the technique of rubber extraction, which is still in use today, and promoting its economic value to planters in the region, rubber output expanded rapidly. At its height in the 1920s, the Malayan peninsula cornered half of the global latex production. The National Orchid Garden, which is located within the main gardens, is at the forefront of orchid studies and a pioneer in the cultivation of hybrids, complementing the nation's status as a major exporter of cut orchids. Aided by the equatorial climate, it houses the largest orchid collection of 1,200 species and 2,000 hybrids. Early in the nation's independence, Singapore Botanic Gardens' expertise helped to transform the island into a tropical "Garden City", an image and moniker for which the nation is widely known. In 1981, the hybrid climbing orchid, Vanda Miss Joaquim, was chosen as the country's national flower. Singapore's "orchid diplomacy" honours visiting head of states, dignitaries, and celebrities by naming its finest hybrids after them; these are displayed at its popular VIP Orchid Gardens. The Gardens is opened from 5 a.m. to 12 midnight daily and is free to enter, except for the National Orchid Garden. More than 10,000 species of flora are spread over its area, which is stretched vertically; the longest distance between the northern and southern ends is . The Botanic Gardens receives about 4.5 million visitors annually. History The first "Botanical and Experimental Garden" in Singapore was established in 1822 on Government Hill by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore and a keen naturalist. The Garden's main task was to evaluate cultivation crops which were of potential economic importance, including those yielding fruits, vegetables, spices and other raw