Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, and the largest in Peninsular Malaysia. It has the longest river in Peninsular Malaysia the Pahang River), and by far the most ethnically diverse state on the East Coast, with a large Malay majority but quite a substantial Chinese presence in cities, towns and some rural areas, some Indians, and the largest number of Orang Asli (aboriginal people) in any state on the peninsula. It is also the state of Gunung Tahan, the highest peak on the peninsula, which is within Taman Negara, Malay for "National Park." Taman Negara contains some of the world's oldest virgin tropical rainforest.

The Arabic honorific of Pahang is Darul Makmur ("Abode of Tranquility").