Perlis: Malaysia's smallest state, and the only one headed by a Raja

There’s one question almost every Malaysian has gotten wrong at some point: who is the Sultan of Perlis?

The answer — there isn’t one. Perlis has no Sultan. It is the only state in Malaysia whose head of state is styled Raja, and that title is not merely a matter of wording. It comes from how the state was founded in 1843.

Key facts

State capital	Kangar
Land area	About 821 km² — the smallest in Malaysia
Population	About 0.3 million (DOSM 2025 estimate)
Population density	365 people per km² (2025) vs the national average of 104
Head of state	His Royal Highness the Raja of Perlis
State GDP	RM6.5 billion (2024), growing 3.3 percent
Seats	3 parliamentary, 15 State Legislative Assembly

Why Raja and not Sultan

The official records of the Office of DYMM Tuanku Raja Perlis explain it directly: in 1843, Raja Syed Hussein Jamalullail was formally installed as Phya Polit in Siamese, or Raja Perlis in Malay. The full title conferred by King Rama III was Phya Songkram Ramu Wichit Wilis Asmara Phya Polit.

That Malay title — Raja — has remained in use from that day to the present.

Since that installation, Perlis has been ruled by a single family, the Jamalullail dynasty, through seven Rajas:

Raja	Reign
Raja Syed Hussein Jamalullail	1843–1873
Raja Syed Ahmad Jamalullail	1873–1897
Raja Syed Safi Jamalullail	1897–1904
Syed Alwi Jamalullail	1905–1943
Raja Syed Hamzah Jamalullail	1943–1945
DYMM Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail	1945–2000
DYMM Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail	2000–present

The reigning Raja of Perlis, His Royal Highness Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, was proclaimed the seventh Raja of Perlis on 17 April 2000.

Different title, same federal standing

This is where most short explanations go wrong. A different title does not carry a different standing within the federal structure.

The Conference of Rulers of Malaysia states that all Rulers and Yang di-Pertua Negeri automatically become members of the Conference, and the chairmanship of the Conference of Rulers Meeting is held by all nine Malay Rulers in rotation. The Raja of Perlis is one of those nine.

The record is clear in the official list of the Parliament of Malaysia. Two Rajas of Perlis have held the office of Yang di-Pertuan Agong:

• Tuanku Syed Putra — third Yang di-Pertuan Agong, 21 September 1960 to 20 September 1965
• Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin — twelfth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, 13 December 2001 to 12 December 2006

Father and son, two terms, from the smallest state in the federation.

Small, dense, and demographically unusual

At around 821 square kilometres, Perlis would fit inside many large districts in other states. MKN lists its six main administrative areas: Kangar as the state capital, followed by Arau, Kaki Bukit, Kuala Perlis, Padang Besar and Simpang Empat.

But small doesn’t mean sparse. DOSM recorded Perlis’s population density at 365 people per square kilometre in 2025 — more than three times the national average of 104.

Another detail rarely mentioned: in 2025, Perlis recorded a sex ratio of 99 males for every 100 females. Only two areas across Malaysia recorded more females than males — Perlis and W.P. Putrajaya. The national ratio is 110.

Perlis’s population growth rate in 2025 was 0.3 percent, below the national rate of 0.5 percent.

An RM6.5 billion economy

According to DOSM’s 2024 GDP by State release, Perlis’s economy grew 3.3 percent in 2024 (2023: 2.0 percent) with a GDP value of RM6.5 billion (2023: RM6.3 billion).

The breakdown says a lot about the state:

• Services leads the state economy, up 3.3 percent, driven by the government services subsector along with wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage, and accommodation.
• Agriculture is the second-largest contributor — a position rarely seen among Peninsular states — up 2.9 percent and contributing 17.1 percent to state GDP. The fisheries subsector jumped 10.5 percent.
• Construction strengthened 16.9 percent (2023: 1.4 percent), driven by notable growth in the civil engineering subsector.

It should be stated plainly: in 2024, only five states recorded GDP per capita above the national level of RM56,734 — W.P. Kuala Lumpur, W.P. Labuan, Penang, Sarawak and Selangor. Perlis is not on that list. Compare this structure with a manufacturing-based state such as Penang, or see the overview in Malaysia’s GDP.

The Thailand border: a geographic liability turned asset

Perlis is the only Malaysian state whose entire northern border meets Thailand, and its development strategy is now built on that fact.

Chuping Valley Industrial Area (CVIA) — a 2,482-acre industrial area in Chuping Valley near the border town of Padang Besar, developed under the NCER framework by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA). Its four focus clusters are green manufacturing, halal industries, renewable energy generation and electric vehicles. NCIA projects a contribution of more than RM2.5 billion to Gross National Income, RM4.5 billion in private investment, and over 12,000 job opportunities.

Perlis Inland Port (PIP) — an inland port project at Padang Besar within the CVIA area. According to MKN, the government has allocated RM318.0 million for external infrastructure development, with RM1.2 billion in private investment for developing the operational area.

For the movement of people, the border is managed through Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) complexes, including ICQS Wang Kelian and the Padang Besar crossing. Document requirements and operating hours are set by the Immigration Department of Malaysia and are subject to change.

Common mistakes

“Sultan of Perlis.” No such office exists. The official title is His Royal Highness the Raja of Perlis. Of the nine Malay Rulers, seven are styled Sultan, one is styled Yang di-Pertuan Besar (Negeri Sembilan), and one is styled Raja (Perlis).

Assuming the title Raja means a lower rank. It doesn’t. The Raja of Perlis is a full member of the Conference of Rulers and is eligible to be elected Yang di-Pertuan Agong — and has been.

Assuming Perlis is purely an agricultural state. The services sector, not agriculture, is the largest contributor to state GDP. Agriculture ranks second.

Confusing Padang Besar in Perlis with Bukit Kayu Hitam. Bukit Kayu Hitam is in Kedah. Perlis’s main land crossings are Padang Besar and Wang Kelian.

Getting the seat counts confused. Perlis has three parliamentary seats (P001 Padang Besar, P002 Kangar, P003 Arau) and 15 State Legislative Assembly seats — the smallest DUN count in Malaysia.

What’s next

If you’re evaluating Perlis for investment, start with NCIA and the state authorities: the positioning of CVIA and the Perlis Inland Port determines whether this border site fits your supply chain.

If you’re studying Malaysia’s royal institutions, Perlis is the most useful test case — because it shows that title and constitutional power are two different things.

And if you simply want to understand the region, the history of the northern Peninsula begins far earlier than 1843. See Langkasuka, an early kingdom whose records predate any Malay sultanate.