Pahang , officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific Darul Makmur is a sultanate and a federal state of Malaysia. It is the third largest Malaysian state by area and ninth largest by population.The state occupies the basin of the Pahang River, and a stretch of the east coast as far south as Endau. Geographically located in the East Coast region of the Peninsular Malaysia, the state shares borders with the Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terengganu to the north, Perak, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan to the west, Johor to the south, while South China Sea is to the east. The Titiwangsa mountain range that forms a natural divider between the Peninsula's east and west coasts is spread along the north and south of the state, peaking at Mount Tahan, which is 2,187m high. Although two thirds of the state is covered by dense rain forest, its central plains are intersected by numerous rivers, and along the coast there is a 32-kilometre wide expanse of alluvial soil that includes the deltas and estuarine plains of the Kuantan, Pahang, Rompin, Endau, and Mersing rivers.

Biodiversity

In spite off increasing land conversion, rapid industrialisation and a rising population, Pahang has a very extensive system of protected and managed areas of natural resources. There include some 74 forest reserves, including 10 virgin jungle reserves and 13 amenity forests, wildlife reserves, parks and several marine parks. Of these, the Pahang segment of Taman Negara is the most outstanding, and there are many other examples of nationally and internationally important areas such as Krau Wildlife Reserve, Bera Lake Ramsar Site, Tioman Island Marine Park and Cameron Highlands Wildlife Sanctuary.

Total forest in Pahang is about 2,367,000 ha (66% of the land are), of which 89% is a dryland forest, 10% peat swamp forest, and 1% mangroves. About 56% of the total forest is within the Permanent Forest Estate. This includes almost the full range of forest types found in Malaysia, although some of the unusual types, heath forest or forest on ultrabasic rocks, exist only in tiny areas of Pahang. The totally protected forest within Taman Negara and Krau Wildlife Reserve includes small areas of extreme lowland alluvial plains. Elsewhere, most of the dryland forest in Pahang is on steep slopes and therefore has both catchment protection and slope protection functions.Virtually every species of bird and mammal known from Peninsula Malaysia has been recorded in Pahang, other than a few confined to the north of the country or the west coast. The representation of montane species of plants and animals is particularly numerous. Peaks within Taman Negara, Mount Benom, and peaks along the Titiwangsa Range, with different endemic species in each of these montane regions are located in Pahang. The large forest blocks of the west and northeast support nationally important populations of big mammals and other fauna, and act as a unit with Taman Negara.

Pahang River is the longest river in the Peninsula, and from its headwaters to the estuary it includes virtually all of the natural river types. These range from montane streams, saraca streams and neram rivers to rasau and nipah tidal reaches. Water catchments have been defined as covering 81% of the state and more than half of this is forested.The huge network of rivers in Pahang is home to freshwater aquatic biodiversity, important to the economy of the state. Connecting to this riverine systems are a number of natural freshwater lakes, most notably Bera and Chini lakes. Surrounded by a patchwork of dry lowland dipterocarp forests, the lake environment stretches its tentacles into islands of peat swamp forests. Rich in wildlife and vegetation, the lakes provide an ecosystem which supports not only a diversity of animal and plant life, but sustains the livelihood of the Orang Asal, the aboriginal people inhabiting the wetlands.

Transportation

Much like many former British protectorates, Pahang uses a dual carriageway with the left-hand traffic rule. As of 2013, Pahang had a total of 19,132 kilometres (11,888 mi) of connected roadways, with 12,425 kilometres (7,721 mi) being paved state routes, 702 kilometres (436 mi) of dirt tracks, 2,173 kilometres (1,350 mi) of gravel roads, and 3,832.6 kilometres (2,381.5 mi) of paved federal road.The primary route in Pahang is the East Coast Expressway, which is the extension of Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway, that connects the east coast and the west coast of the Peninsular Malaysia. The expressway passes through 3 states of the peninsular; Pahang, Terengganu and Selangor, connects Kuantan Port to the national grid and links many important town and cities of the east coast to the industrial heartland of Malaysia in the west. Another important route, the Central Spine Road which was laid out in the Eleventh Malaysian Plan, is an alternative road to the east coast, connecting Kuala Krai in Kelantan and Bentong District in Pahang.

The main railway line is the KTM East Coast Railway Line, nicknamed the 'Jungle Railway' for its route that passes through the sparsely populated and heavily forested interior. It is operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, a federal government-linked company. The 526 km long single track metre gauge that runs between Gemas in Negeri Sembilan and Tumpat in Kelantan, was historically used during British protectorate to transport Tin. A more advanced railway line, the double-track and electrified MRL East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), was announced in 2016 as a project under ECER's master plan, to transport both passengers and cargo. The planned 688 km long new railway line is set to form the backbone of ECER's multimodal transport infrastructure, linking the existing transportation hub in ECER Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with the west coast region.

The Special Economic Zone that centred at Kuantan,is the main transportation hub for bus services, air routes and sea routes for the entire east coast region. Terminal Kuantan Sentral serves as the land transportation hub, offering intrastate services that connects all districts of Pahang, as well as interstate services that links the state to the rest of the Peninsular, including Singapore and Thailand. In 2012, the government announced that Prasarana, which runs Rapid KL, would take over all public bus services in Kuantan under a new entity, Rapid Kuantan. The only airport in Pahang is Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport, also known as Kuantan Airport. Located 15 km from Kuantan, it serves both domestic and international flights. Direct international flights connect the state with Singapore. The airport serves the national carrier Malaysia Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Firefly. It also houses the 6th Squadron and 19th Squadron of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.Kuantan is also home to Pahang's only seaport, the Kuantan Port. The multipurpose seaport, that handles both intermodal containers and bulk cargo, is an important gateway of the international sea trading routes for the entire east coast region of Peninsular Malaysia. Since 2013, the port embarked on massive expansion program with the development of New Deep Water Terminal consisting 2 km berth extension, to be fully integrated with the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) and other neighbouring industrial parks within the Special Economic Zone. This expansion plan, along with other high impact development projects are in tandem with the escalating economic development of the Eastern Industrial Corridor.