Editing Perak (section)

=== 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"/>