Perak (Malay pronunciation: [peraʔ]; Jawi:ڤراق; chinese:霹雳) also known by its honorific, Darul Ridzuan, or "Abode of Grace", one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the fourth largest state in the country. It borders Kedah at the north; Thai Yala Province to the northeast; Penang to the northwest; Kelantan and Pahang to the east; Selangor to the south, and the Straits of Malacca to the west.

The state's administrative capital of Ipoh was known historically for tin-mining activities until the price of the metal dropped, severely affecting the state's economy. The royal capital, however remains at Kuala Kangsar, where the palace of the Sultan of Perak is located.

The state's official name is Perak Darul Ridzuan or "Perak, pulis sa tagalog". Perak means silver in Malay, which is probably derived from the silvery colour of tin. In the 1890s, Perak, with the richest alluvial deposits of tin in the world was one of the jewels in the crown of the British Empire. However, some say the name comes from the "glimmer of fish in the water" that sparkled like silver. Darul Ridzuan is the state's Arabic honorific, and can mean either "land" or "abode" of grace.

Legend tells of a Hindu-Malay Kingdom called Gangga Negara in the northwest of Perak. Archaeological discoveries indicate that Perak was inhabited since prehistoric times.

The modern history of Perak began with the fall of the Malacca Sultanate. Raja Muzaffar Shah, (the eldest son of the last Sultan of Melaka, Sultan Mahmud Shah) fled the Portuguese conquest of 1511 and established his own dynasty on the banks of the Sungai Perak (Perak River) in 1528. Being rich in tin ore deposits, the dominion was under almost continuous threat from outsiders.

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