Editing Perak (section)

== Demography ==
=== Ethnicity and immigration ===
{{Historical populations
|align=left
|1970 |1569139
|1980 |1743655
|1991 |1877471
|2000 |1973368
|2010 |2299582
|2020 |2496041
|source={{my10|2020kf}}
|graph-pos=bottom
}}{{Verification|sub-section|small=y|date=January 2025}}{{bar box
|width=250px
|barwidth=100px
|title=Ethnic groups in Perak (2010)<ref name="total population"/>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Ethnic
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Malaysian Malays|Malay]]|Green|52.0}}
{{bar percent|[[Malaysian Chinese|Chinese]]|Red|29.0}}
{{bar percent|[[Malaysian Indian|Indian]]|Orange|11.0}}
{{bar percent|Other [[Bumiputera (Malaysia)|Bumiputera]]|Teal|2.7}}
{{bar percent|Non-Malaysian citizen|Purple|2.9}}
}}
The 2015 Malaysian Census reported the population of Perak at 2,477,700, making it the fifth most populous state in Malaysia, with a non-citizen population of 74,200.<ref name="2015 population">{{cite web|url=http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php/info-terkini/19463-unjuran-populasi-penduduk-2015.html|title=Population by States and Ethnic Group|publisher=Department of Information, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, Malaysia|year=2015|access-date=23 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212125740/http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php/info-terkini/19463-unjuran-populasi-penduduk-2015.html|archive-date=12 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Of the Malaysian residents, 1,314,400 (53.0%) are [[Malaysian Malays|Malay]], 713,000 (28.0%) are [[Malaysian Chinese|Chinese]], 293,300 (11.0%) are [[Malaysian Indian|Indian]], and another 72,300 (2.9%) identified as other [[Bumiputera (Malaysia)|bumiputera]].<ref name="2015 population"/> In 2010, the population was estimated to be around 2,299,582, with 1,212,700 (52.0%) Malay, 675,517 (29.0%) Chinese, 274,631 (11.0%) Indian, and another 62,877 (2.7%) from other bumiputera.<ref name="total population"/> Once the most populous state during the British administration under the FMS, Perak has yet to recover from the decline of the tin-mining industry.<ref name="transformation of Perak under the British"/><ref>{{cite book|url=http://myrepositori.pnm.gov.my/bitstream/123456789/3318/1/JB1288_BTMK.pdf|title=Beyond the Tin Mines: Coolies, Squatters and New Villagers in the Kinta Valley, Malaysia, c.1880–1980|author=Francis Loh Kok Wah|publisher=Oxford University Press|via=[[National Library of Malaysia]]|year=1988|pages=1–13 [1/10]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023035209/http://myrepositori.pnm.gov.my/bitstream/123456789/3318/1/JB1288_BTMK.pdf|archive-date=23 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The associated economic downturn resulted in a massive manpower drain to higher-growth states such as [[Penang]], Selangor, and [[Kuala Lumpur]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Robin J. Pryor|title=Migration and development in South-East Asia: a demographic perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UNHpAAAAIAAJ&q=perak+tin+fall+migrate+penang+selangor+kuala+lumpur|year=1979|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=85–|isbn=9780195804218}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Malaysian Journal of Tropical Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJMSAQAAIAAJ&q=perak+tin+fall+migrate+penang+selangor+kuala+lumpur|year=1994|publisher=Department of Geography, University of Malaya|pages=85–}}</ref>

The current constitution defines Malays as someone who is Muslim and assimilated with Malay community {{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} Traditionally, the native [[Perakian Malays|Malays]] mostly live in [[Lenggong]], [[Gerik]], [[Kinta District|Kinta]], [[Bota]] and [[Beruas]] while the Javanese mostly lived in Hilir Perak, comprising Bagan Datuk, [[Batak Rabit]], Sungai Manik, Teluk Intan, and a few other places along the Perak shores. The Mandailing and [[Rawa (tribe)|Rawa]] people were mostly in Gopeng, Kampar, [[Tanjung Malim]], and Kampung Mandailing at Gua Balak. These people had mostly come from neighbouring Selangor, escaping the [[Klang War]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} The Buginese are found in Kuala Kangsar, especially in Kota Lama Kiri and [[Sayong]]. The few Minangkabau people in the state lived among the other ethnic groups with no distinct villages or settlements of their own.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} As of 2015, there were some 3,200 [[Malaysian Siamese]] in Perak, a legacy of the Siamese presence in the northern Malay states.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=http://gscm.nida.ac.th/uploads/files/1536032634.pdf|title=Dynamic Construction of the Siamese-Malaysians' Ethnic Identity, Malaysia|author=Thatsanawadi Kaeosanit|type=PhD thesis|publisher=Graduate School of Communication Arts and Management Innovation, [[National Institute of Development Administration]], Thailand|year=2016|access-date=24 October 2019|page=143 [153/384]}}</ref> There is also a scattered [[Acehnese people|Acehnese]] presence, dating back to the rule of the [[Aceh Sultanate|Sultanate of Aceh]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Perak's highest [[population density]] is mainly concentrated in the coastal and lowland areas. The Chinese and Indian population represents a higher percentage of the state's total population than in the neighbouring northern Malay states.<ref name="RumleyMinghi2014">{{cite book|author1=Dennis Rumley|author2=Julian V. Minghi|title=The Geography of Border Landscapes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVivBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT132|date=3 October 2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-59879-4|pages=132–}}</ref> The presence of these groups was particularly significant after the British opened many tin mines and extensive rubber plantations in the mid-19th century. More than half of Perak's inhabitants in the 1930s were [[Chinese emigration|Chinese immigrants]].<ref name="British in the Malay States">{{cite book|title=World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72VwCFtYHCgC&pg=PA1184|year=2007|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7642-9|pages=1184–}}</ref> Perak's Indian community is mostly of [[Tamil Malaysian|Tamil]] ethnicity, although it also includes other South Indian communities such as the [[Malaysian Malayali|Malayalees]], principally in Sitiawan, Sungai Siput, Trolak and Kuala Kangsar; the [[Malaysian Telugu|Telugus]], in Teluk Intan and Bagan Datuk; and the [[Sikhs]], scattered in and around Perak, predominantly in [[Ipoh]] and [[Tanjung Tualang]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Melvin Ember|author2=Carol R. Ember|author3=Ian Skoggard|title=Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Volume I: Overviews and Topics; Volume II: Diaspora Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QEjPVyd9YMC&pg=PA274|date=30 November 2004|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-306-48321-9|pages=274–}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2021}}<ref name="Omar2015">{{cite book|author=Asmah Haji Omar|title=Languages in the Malaysian Education System: Monolingual strands in multilingual settings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaQ0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16|date=16 December 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-36421-4|pages=16–}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2021}}

Population density is relatively low in much of Perak's interior, where the indigenous [[Orang Asli]] are scattered, including in the northernmost border district of Hulu Perak.<ref name="RumleyMinghi2014"/> The indigenous people originally inhabited most of Perak's coastal areas but were pushed deeper into the interior with the arrival of increasing numbers of Javanese, Banjar, Mandailing, Rawa, Batak, Kampar, Bugis and Minangkabau immigrants in the early 19th century. The Orang Asli [[oral tradition]]s preserve stories of Rawa and Batak atrocities and enslavement of the aboriginal population.<ref name="Duncan2008"/>

=== Religion ===
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|align=left
| image1 = Kuala Kangsar, Masjid Ubaidullah Mosque - panoramio.jpg
| image2 = Sam Poh Tong Temple.jpg
| image3 = Kallumalai Murugan Temple, Ipoh, Malaysia.jpg
| image4 = Sjc2 170916.jpg
| footer = [[Place of worship]] in Perak, clockwise from top right: [[Sam Poh Tong Temple]], St. John Church, Kallumalai Murugan Temple and the [[Ubudiah Mosque]]
}}
{{bar box
|width=250px
|barwidth=100px
|title=Religion in Perak (2010)<ref name="total religion">{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Population/files/census2010/Taburan_Penduduk_dan_Ciri-ciri_Asas_Demografi.pdf|title=Taburan Penduduk dan Ciri-ciri asas demografi (Population Distribution and Basic demographic characteristics 2010)|publisher=Department of Statistics, Malaysia|year=2010|access-date=23 October 2019|page=13 [26/156]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522234002/http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Population/files/census2010/Taburan_Penduduk_dan_Ciri-ciri_Asas_Demografi.pdf|archive-date=22 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Religion
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Islam]]|Green|55.3}}
{{bar percent|[[Buddhism]]|Yellow|25.4}}
{{bar percent|[[Hinduism]]|Orange|10.9}}
{{bar percent|[[Christianity]]|Blue|4.3}}
{{bar percent|Unknown|Brown|0.7}}
{{bar percent|[[Chinese folk religion]]|Magenta|1.7}}
{{bar percent|[[Irreligion|No religion]]|Black|0.9}}
{{bar percent|Others|Gray|0.8}}
}}

As in the rest of Malaysia, [[Islam]] is recognised as the [[state religion]], although other religions may be freely practised.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who's who in Malaysia and Guide to Singapore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNgUAQAAIAAJ&q=perak+state+religion|year=1977|publisher=J. V. Morais.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb|title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam: NED-SAM|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OO4pAQAAMAAJ&q=perak+state+religion|year=1995|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004098343}}</ref> According to the 2010 Malaysian Census, Perak's population was 55.3% [[Muslim]], 25.4% [[Buddhist]], 10.9% [[Hindu]], 4.3% [[Christians|Christian]], 1.7% [[Taoism|Taoist]] or followers of [[Chinese folk religion]], 0.8% other religions or unknown, and 0.9% non-religious.<ref name="total religion"/> The census indicated that 83.7% of Perak's Chinese population identified as Buddhist, with significant minorities identifying as Christian (9.2%), Chinese folk religion adherents (5.8%), and Muslim (0.2%). The majority of the Indian population identified as Hindu (87.6%), with significant minorities identifying as Christian (6.01%), Muslim (2.67%), and Buddhist (1.0%). The non-Malay bumiputera community was predominantly [[irreligion]] (28.2%), with significant minorities identifying as Muslim (24.1%), and Christian (22.9%). Among the majority population, all Malay bumiputera identified as Muslim. [[Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia]] defines professing the Islamic faith as one of the criteria of being a Malay.<ref name="total religion"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew Harding|title=The Constitution of Malaysia: A Contextual Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZV6BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT141|date=27 July 2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-84731-983-8|pages=141–}}</ref>

=== Languages ===
[[File:Malay signboard with English location name in Ipoh.jpg|thumb|right|[[Malay language]] road sign with English location name in Ipoh]]
[[File:Roadsign in Ipoh city centre (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Road sign near [[Ipoh City Council]]]]

As a multi-ethnic state, Perak is also linguistically diverse. The main local variety of Malay spoken in the state is [[Perak Malay]], which is characterised by its "e" (as in "red", {{IPAblink|e}}) and its "r", like the [[French language|French]] "r" ({{IPAblink|ʁ}}). It is commonly spoken in central Perak, more specifically in the districts of [[Kuala Kangsar District|Kuala Kangsar]] and [[Perak Tengah District|Perak Tengah]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Sir Hugh Charles Clifford|author2=Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham|title=A Dictionary of the Malay Language|url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarymala00swetgoog|year=1894|publisher=Authors at the Government's Printing Office}}</ref><ref name="Malay dialects of Perak">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://language.cs.usm.my/publications/tienping/ialp2012-synthesis.pdf|author1=Tien-Ping Tan|author2=Sang-Seong Goh|author3=Yen-Min Khaw|title=2012 International Conference on Asian Language Processing |chapter=A Malay Dialect Translation and Synthesis System: Proposal and Preliminary System |via=Speech Processing Group, School of Computer Sciences, [[Universiti Sains Malaysia]]|year=2012|pages=1–4 [109–112]|doi=10.1109/IALP.2012.14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024033022/http://language.cs.usm.my/publications/tienping/ialp2012-synthesis.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead|isbn=978-1-4673-6113-2|s2cid=15342784}}</ref> Speakers of the northern [[Kedah Malay]] dialect are also found in the northern part of Perak, comprising [[Kerian]], Pangkor Island, and [[Larut, Matang and Selama District|Larut, Matang and Selama]] districts.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol23_s1_2016/kajh23s12016_01.pdf|title=Hybrid Language and Identity among the Samsam, Baba Nyonya and Jawi Peranakan Communities in North Peninsular Malaysia|author=Noriah Mohamed|publisher=Universiti Sains Malaysia|year=2016|pages=1–23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024021613/http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol23_s1_2016/kajh23s12016_01.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the northeastern part of Perak (Hulu Perak), and some parts of Selama and Kerian, the Malay people speak another distinct Malay language variant known as [[Reman Malay]] or locally known as ''Basa Ulu/Grik'' (named after [[Grik]]), which is most closely related to [[Kelantan-Pattani Malay]] in Kelantan and [[southern Thailand]] (Yawi) due to geographical proximity and historical assimilation.<ref name="Malay dialects of Perak"/> In the southern parts of Perak (Hilir Perak and Batang Padang), and also in the districts of Kampar and Kinta and several parts of Manjung, the dialect spoken is heavily influenced by the southern Malay dialects of the peninsula such as Selangor, Malacca, and Johore-Riau Malay. It is also influenced by several languages of the Indonesian archipelago: [[Javanese language|Javanese]], [[Banjar language|Banjar]], [[Rawa (tribe)|Rawa]] (a variety of [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]]), [[Batak languages|Batak]] ([[Mandailing language|Mandailing]]), and [[Buginese language|Buginese]], as a result of historical immigration, civil wars such as the Klang War, and other factors.<ref name="Malay dialects of Perak"/>

Among Perak's various Chinese ethnicities, [[Malaysian Cantonese]] has become the [[lingua franca]], although a number of [[Chinese dialect|dialects]] are spoken including [[Cantonese]], [[Hakka]], [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], [[Hokkien]], and [[Fuzhou dialect|Hokchiu]].<ref name="Omar2015"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Jacquetta Megarry|author2=Stanley Nisbet|author3=Eric Hoyle|title=World Yearbook of Education: Education of Minorities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wIErNLnCT1MC&pg=PA166|date=8 December 2005|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-39297-6|pages=166–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2017/12/09/the-rise-and-fall-of-languages-and-dialects/|title=The rise and fall of languages and dialects|author=A. Y. Yong|work=The Star|date=9 December 2017|access-date=24 October 2019}}</ref>

The Tamil community mainly speaks a [[Malaysian Tamil|Malaysian]] dialect of the [[Tamil language]]; the [[Malaysian Malayali|Malayalees]] speak [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]]; the Telugus speak the [[Telugu language]]; and the Sikhs speak [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]].<ref name="Omar2015"/> Over time, [[Tamil language|Tamil]] became a lingua franca among Perak's different Indian communities as Tamil-speaking people became the majority in several west coast Malaysian states with higher Indian populations.<ref name="British in the Malay States"/><ref name="Omar2015"/> A small number of [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] speakers also found in parts of the state capital, Ipoh.<ref name="Omar2015"/>

Several Orang Asli languages are spoken within the state, all belonging to the [[Aslian languages|Aslian]] branch of the [[Austroasiatic languages]]. These languages are [[Lanoh language|Lanoh]], [[Temiar language|Temiar]], [[Jahai language|Jahai]], [[Kensiu language|Kensiu]], [[Kintaq language|Kintaq]], and [[Semai language|Semai]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Members of the Siamese community mainly speak a [[Southern Thai language|Southern Thai]] variant, and are fluent in Malay, also having some knowledge of some of the Chinese dialects. With the multi-ethnic make-up of Perak's society, some people speak more than one language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=100379|title=Language unites Malay and Siamese community|work=Bernama|publisher=Daily Express|date=5 June 2015|access-date=24 October 2019|quote=Thai was widely used among the Malays who live in villages shared by the Siamese community, especially in states like Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024041319/http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=100379|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/10/17/how-knowing-mandarin-helps-this-perak-veterinarian-in-her-work/1801084|title=How knowing Mandarin helps this Perak veterinarian in her work|author=Sylvia Looi|newspaper=The Malay Mail|date=17 October 2019|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024041813/https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/10/17/how-knowing-mandarin-helps-this-perak-veterinarian-in-her-work/1801084|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>