Perak, traditional region, northwestern West Malaysia (Malaya), bordering Thailand to the north and fronting the Strait of Malacca to the west. Its area includes a large portion of West Malaysia’s west-coast plains and centres upon the Perak River, which flows north-to-south between the Keledang Range to the east and the Bintang Range to the west; both of these mountain ranges lie east of the west-coast plains. The name Perak means “tin.”
Chiefly because of its deposits of tin, the region was subject to many foreign and domestic incursions. Malacca fell to the Portuguese in 1511, and it was then that Perak began to emerge as an independent state. The region was particularly harassed by the Acehnese, who managed to capture four sultans of Perak and thousands of their subjects between 1575 and 1675 and who were effectively the overlords of Perak. Several Dutch attempts to control tin exports resulted in a 1765 treaty with the sultan of Perak, but the most serious threat to the state was actually from its Bugis neighbours to the south. British influence, which began with an 1818 trade treaty, was extended in 1826, when the Dindings coastal strip and Pangkor Island offshore were ceded to them as bases for pirate suppression. In the Pangkor Engagement (1874), the chiefs accepted a British resident, and Perak became one of the Federated Malay States in 1896. The Dindings and Pangkor were returned in 1935 to Perak, which joined the Federation of Malaya after World War II.
Tin mining is still carried on in the region, particularly in the Kinta Valley (q.v.). Much of the region remains jungle, and the Keledang and Bintang ranges are roadless and sparsely inhabited; there is, however, a good network of roads supported by the Malayan Railway along the foothills of these ranges.
Lake Chenderoh in north-central Perak is the site of a hydroelectric dam on the Perak River that supplies power to the Kinta Valley. Rubber production, paddy (rice) farming, coconut plantations, and fishing are also important. Tobacco is grown as an off-season cash crop in paddy areas. Iron is mined, and there are coal deposits in the region.