The town directly borders Sengkang to the south and shares riverine boundaries with the planning area of Seletar, as well as Yishun to the west and Pasir Ris to the east.

Bounding the town to the north and north-east is the Straits of Johor, with Coney Island included as a part of the Punggol planning area.

Punggol, also spelled Ponggol, means "hurling sticks at the branches of fruit trees to bring them down to the ground" in Malay.

There are suggestions that the district's name is based on Tamil (Pongal, "the feast of the boiling rice", celebrated when the sun enters the sign of Capricorn).

The Punggol area used to be a well-established rural district dotted with farmhouses and farm structures, which were serviced by roads and dirt tracks.

The early Chinese immigrants, who settled in Punggol from the mid 19th century onwards, were engaged in plantation work, mainly rubber.

At the end of Punggol Port Road, Indonesian and Malaysian fishermen auctioned their catch at the wholesale fish market.

On 28 February 1942, around 300-400 Chinese civilians were killed at Punggol Point by the Hojo Kempei firing squads.

[7] In the 1960s, basic amenities like piped water, electricity, paved roads, and drainage systems were introduced through government and self-help programmes.

Land vacated by resettled farmers were then tendered out on short-term leases for non-pollutive agricultural activities, which included hydroponic non-pollutive vegetable and orchid farms that used to flourish along the Cheng Lim Farmways and Buangkok Farmways.

It would have a mix of private houses and high-grade HDB flats grouped into smaller, distinctly designed estates.

[9][10] A few months after the speech, Punggol 21, which was part of Cheng San Group Representation Constituency then, became an election carrot for the People's Action Party (PAP) to beat a Workers' Party team led by J.B. Jeyaretnam and Tang Liang Hong.

At the general election in 1997, the five-man PAP team managed to retain Cheng San GRC with 54.8% of the valid votes.

There was only one shopping mall in the estate, Punggol Plaza, and there were no recreational facilities like cinemas or swimming pools.

An integrated waterfront commercial and residential development has also been planned at the town centre, which will be built on both banks of the waterway.

[17] Through this developments, Punggol has become a great town The data below is from the population report published by the Singapore Department of Statistics in June 2024.

Punggol has a notably high concentration of children, with 21.32% of the population being 0 to 14 years old, significantly higher than the national average of 13.80%.

This is significantly higher than the national proportion of HDB dwellers (76.3%),[23] reflecting a greater prevalence of public housing in the area.

Compared to the national average of 5.00%, there is a notably lower proportion of practising Hindus in Punggol.

[24] 43,473 residents (34.9% of the population) in Punggol have attained a university qualification, slightly higher than the national average of 32.1%.

[24] The proportion of residents in Punggol using English as the most frequently spoken language (55.2%) is higher than the national average of 48.3%.

[24] Among the employed residents in Punggol aged 15 years and over, most earn a gross monthly income of between S$3,000 and S$3,999, with 11.5% being in that category.

The Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, which provides a direct route to the city area via TPE, was fully opened in September 2008.

[30] In terms of public transport, the North-East line opened on 20 June 2003,[31][32] and Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange on 30 November 2003.

It is integrated with a town square and a visitors' centre which provides an avenue for residents and the public to learn more about the heritage of Punggol through exhibitions and civic and community events and also features the first underground and largest suburban cineplex in Singapore.

Northshore Plaza I & II are twin shopping malls built as a part of the new-generation neighbourhood centres by HDB; like Oasis Terraces.

It also provides residents opportunities for leisure activities such as jogging and cycling which can be carried out along the promenade at both sides of the waterway.

Announced to be built in June 2014, the clubhouse caters to mainly NSmen and their families features an indoor water playground and a large eco-themed childcare centre.

The Temple building comprises the main shrine hall, a visitor centre, a dining room, a hall for sutra manuscripts, a columbarium, multi-purpose classrooms, a teahouse, an open-air terrace, car park and other modern facilities.

Sheng Jia Temple's main deity is the Monkey God and has a long history of more than 40 years.